TotalFinaElf announces the tenth promising oil discovery on the deep offshore Block 17 in Angola, located approximately 200 kilometers northwest of Luanda.

TotalFinaElf is the operator with a 40% interest in Block 17 along with ExxonMobil (20%), BP (16.67%), Statoil (13.33%) and Norsk Hydro (10%).

The discovery well, Perpetua-1, was drilled in the eastern part of Block 17 at a water depth of 795 meters. It is located 33 kilometers east of Tulipa, discovered in 1999, and 35 kilometers east of Dalia, which was discovered in 1997.

During production tests, Perpetua-1 showed a daily flow rate of 8,740 barrels of oil (API 20°). This positive result will be followed by further geological and engineering studies in order to appraise the newly discovered structure.

This is the twelfth exploration well drilled and the tenth discovery made on Block 17. Perpetua-1 confirms the extended potential of the block, which has been revealed by the nine preceding discoveries of Girassol, Dalia, Rosa, Lirio, Tulipa, Orquidea, Cravo, Camelia and Jasmim.

Paralleling the continued exploration of this block is the development now underway of the Girassol field, discovered in 1996. The start-up of production should begin during the second half of 2001 with a production plateau objective of 200,000 barrels a day.

TotalFinaElf is also present in the Angolan deep offshore with a 20% interest in Block 14, where the Kuito field, put into production at the end of 1999, is currently producing around 70,000 barrels of oil a day. With the continuing development of the field, production should reach a daily plateau of 100,000 barrels. In addition the Group has interests in the deep offshore Block 19 (the operator with 30%), Block 32 (the operator with 30%), Block 31 (5%) and Block 33 (15%).