Total - Energies


	Technologies to push back peak oil The increase in oil prices may well be raising concerns and questions about the future of oil, but it is also creating new opportunities. Rising prices are providing the financial resources to develop cutting-edge technologies that could postpone the downturn in world production. Two experts from the IFP (French Petroleum Institute) take stock of the situation.


	Université Total at MIT As the oil business becomes increasingly high-tech, there is a growing need to exchange ideas and information with leading-edge basic and applied research teams. Université Total and the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are holding study weeks on the MIT Boston campus for Total managers and MIT experts.


	Seeing beneath the surface Seismic imaging, a subsurface ultrasound technique that directs sound waves into the rocks, is a key tool for understanding underground geological structures for exploration-production operations. Total and its Exploration & Production subsidiaries have a team of 150 seismic imaging experts working in the Group's R&D centres.


	Where geology begins Back to nature for a better understanding of mountain structures, exploring remote areas to better assess their oil potential, and scouring mature basins in search of clues to the presence of new "traps": such is the vocation of the geologist explorer. A profession vital to finding oil and gas reservoirs that resist seismic investigation.


	Geomodeling: helping to make decisions With the seismic surveys and geophysical studies complete, geologists build a digital geomodel of the subsurface to help decide whether to develop an oil or gas field. Geomodeling is a vital risk-minimising tool. Energies takes a closer look at this fast-evolving discipline.


	Valorising frontier oil and gas If oil companies are to ensure production growth over the long term, they need to valorise the more complex and technologically demanding oil and gas resources. To do this, Total is drawing on its expertise and its R&D programmes closely integrated with operations in the field.


	Produce and protect Increasing our production of hydrocarbons is already a big challenge. Doing it without generating more emissions is an even tougher one. Environmental friendliness is a major consideration for today's hydrocarbon production and treatment techniques. In an increasingly competitive world, good eco-performance can make all the difference . and create new opportunities!


	Partners to the fore R&D plays a key role in preparing for the energy future, but research advances are dependent on many factors. The President of Total Exploration & Production, Christophe de Margerie, explains the current changes in the oil and gas environment and Total's relations with producing countries.




	Energy experts predict sustained growth in world energy demand, but oil production is stretched to the limit and prices are soaring. In today's changing energy environment, oil companies are looking to push back the technological frontiers and prove our capacity to manage the risks of an uncertain economic environment. Total is successfully rising to the challenge.


Technologies to push back peak oil

Université Total at MIT

Seeing beneath the surface

Where geology begins

Geomodeling: helping to make decisions

Valorising frontier oil and gas

Produce and protect

Partners to the fore