Total announces the start-up of the Matterhorn field in Mississippi Canyon Block 243 in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The field, wholly owned and operated by Total E&P USA Inc., is located approximately 160 kilometers southeast of New Orleans in a water depth of 850 meters.

Matterhorn, discovered in 1999, was developed with a floating structure called a Tension Leg Platform, comprising the wellheads and the separation and treatment installations. The platform has throughput capacity of 33,000 barrels of oil per day and 55 million cubic feet per day. Production is transported to shore through flowlines connected to the existing pipeline network.

Following Virgo and Aconcagua, Matterhorn is the third field operated by Total E&P USA Inc. in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Matterhorn field is in line with Total's strategy of increasing production in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico where the company has been awarded 21 new exploration blocks in 2003.