An agreement was signed in Doha, Qatar today to export 2 billion cubic feet per day of Qatari natural gas to the United Arab Emirates and Oman as part of the Dolphin project. TotalFinaElf has a 24.5% interest in Dolphin Energy Ltd., along with UAE Offsets Group (UOG - 51%) and Enron (24.5%).

The project will supply Qatari natural gas to the UAE and Oman, which are anticipating a steep rise in demand for gas, in particular for power generation.

The project includes:

• Developing natural gas reserves in two blocks of Qatar’s giant offshore North Field. The first delineation wells are scheduled to be drilled in the second half of 2001 and come on stream in 2005.

• Building a 48-inch, 350-kilometer pipeline from a processing plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, to the Taweelah terminal in Abu Dhabi and the Jebel Ali terminal in Dubai.

TotalFinaElf will operate the upstream phase of the project, while Enron will focus on gas transportation.

The cost of the initial phase of the Dolphin project is put at $3.5 billion. A second development phase will cover the delivery of a further 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Today’s agreement marks a key stage in implementing the Dolphin project and sets a production period of 25 years. Initial gas deliveries are expected to begin in 2005.

This milestone project allows TotalFinaElf to strengthen its position in Qatar and the UAE and provides it with another opportunity to leverage to its expertise in gas development projects. TotalFinaElf has operations in all Middle Eastern countries which presently allow foreign investment.