Total has signed two agreements to sell to Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations its 25% interest in Gaz de Strasbourg and its 16% interest in La Société du Gaz de Bordeaux, two local distribution companies that serve manufacturers and consumers in the municipalities of Strasbourg and Bordeaux. Finalisation of these transactions is subject to the exercise of any applicable approval and pre-emptive rights.

Total produces, transports and markets natural gas, both on a wholesale basis and directly to industrial and commercial customers. Following the separation of Total and Gaz de France’s cross-shareholdings in their joint transmission and marketing subsidiaries, the sale of these assets, which are not strategic to Total’s local gas operations, further clarifies and aligns the Group’s positions in France, where it is a key operator.

Total’s French transmission and storage operations are now consolidated in a Total subsidiary “Total Infrastructures Gaz France” (TIGF), which operates a 4,905 kilometre network of pipelines and two underground storage facilities with a combined capacity of 2.4 billion cubic metres, representing around 22% of total French capacity. In 2005, Total sold 7.4 billion cubic metres of gas in France through its newly established subsidiary, Total Energie Gaz (TEGAZ).