France

Elf Aquitaine (Elf) was created in 1941 at the initiative of the French government, largely to exploit the Lacq oil and gas field in southwestern France. Elf is France's largest petroleum company. The French government initiated a privatization scheme in 1986 with the sale of 14 percent of Elf to the public. By 1995, the French government's share was reduced to 10 percent. Elf is predominantly an oil- and gas-producing company, and most of its production comes from former French colonies among the African countries surrounding the Bay of Guinea. Elf has refining operations in Europe and West Africa. Elf is the seventh largest refiner of crude oil in Europe and seventh largest producer of North Sea crude.

As with BP, global energy privatization has also had a substantial impact on Elf's activities. In upstream, Elf is carrying on operations in such frontier areas as China, Latin America, the Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Vietnam. Downstream, Elf purchased a refinery in eastern Germany. Elf has also invested in a joint venture (with Russia's recently privatized Lukoil) to expand and upgrade a refinery in eastern Germany. Elf had plans to build a $2.5-billion dollar refinery in China but later pulled out.

Like British Petroleum, Elf has also engaged in a recent restructuring. Since 1993, Elf has shed roughly 10 percent of its assets and has reduced employment from 94,300 in 1993 to 85,500 in 1995 {see Endnote 21}. Also as with British Petroleum, foreign investors have increased their ownership of Elf in recent years. Foreign investors held 35 percent of Elf's shares in 1995 versus 21 percent in 1992.

TOTAL is France's second largest petroleum company. TOTAL was founded in 1924 at the initiative of the French government. Initially, TOTAL consisted largely of Middle East petroleum production interests. The French government's ownership of TOTAL peaked at 34 percent but was reduced to 5 percent in 1992. The current French government's five percent interest, coupled with the ownership interests of several large French institutional investors who have long held a substantial stake in the company, would generally indicate a fairly undiluted and stable ownership structure. However, foreign interests (particularly from the United States and the United Kingdom), have increased their ownership from 23 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 1994 {see Endnote 22}.

TOTAL is the world's 23rd largest petroleum producer and 17th largest refiner. The Middle East (particularly the U.A.E.) accounts for 55 percent of TOTAL's crude oil and natural gas production. Other large producing regions include the North Sea and Indonesia. TOTAL is also active in several frontier areas of petroleum activity. The company currently produces oil and gas in Algeria, Libya, Argentina, and it has a 15-percent interest in Colombia's Cuisiana field {see Endnote 23}. TOTAL also has upstream operations in Myanmar, Vietnam, Yemen, Nigeria, and Cambodia and has a production-sharing contract with Russia. Downstream, TOTAL is building a refinery in China and studying the construction of one in Vietnam. TOTAL has also opened service stations in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

In contrast to many of the other recently privatized companies, TOTAL's asset base has grown in recent years, by 9 percent since 1992, while employment has increased from 51,139 to 53,536 workers.