TotalFinaElf announces that its Norwegian subsidiary TotalFinaElf Exploration Norge has entered into a time charter party with a joint venture company owned by Leif Hoegh & Co and Mitsui OSK Lines for a 145,000 m3 LNG carrier to be built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vessel, designed to meet strict safety and environmental requirements for operation in the North Sea, will be built based on the Moss Rosenberg spherical tank design.

The contracting of this shipping capacity reinforces TotalFinaElf's decision to market its own share of the LNG produced by the Snohvit gas project, offshore Norway, in which the Group holds an 18.4% equity interest. The LNG carrier will be delivered in January 2006 and will be primarily employed to transport the gas to TotalFinaElf customers in the growth markets of Europe and America.

TotalFinaElf is an established actor in the LNG market, with global sales of close to 6 million tonnes per year in 2001. The Group holds interests in five producing LNG plants around the world, located in the Middle East, Indonesia and in Nigeria.