94.93% of Share Capital of Elf Aquitaine Held

TOTAL FINA SA
26 October 1999



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92800 Puteaux France
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Isabelle GAILDFRAUD
Eve GAUTIER
Jean-Mary CASTILLON
Hans DAEMS

TOTAL FINA S.A
Societe Anonyme au
Capital de 3 494 074 360 euros
542 051 180 RCS Nanterre

                   Totalfina Holds 94.93% of Elf Aquitaine

                Following the Close of the Public Exchange Offer

                   And Has the Largest Market Capitalization

                          On the Paris Stock Exchange

Following  the  October 15 close of the increased Public  Exchange  Offer
launched on September 23, Totalfina announced that it holds 94.93% of the
share capital of Elf Aquitaine.

This successful exchange offer represents a critical step in forming  the
new  Group Totalfina Elf. The new organization of the Group will  not  be
put   in   place  until  after  the  European  Commission  approves   the
combination, which is expected by mid-February 2000.

The  new Totalfina shares issued in exchange for the Elf Aquitaine shares
will  be distributed as from October 28. The weight of Totalfina  in  the
CAC  40  index  will be correspondingly increased, making  Totalfina  the
largest stock on the Paris exchange in terms of market capitalization. In
addition,  the weight of Totalfina in the European indexes will increase,
and it will be added to various other indexes.

Totalfina is pleased with the success of the friendly exchange offer  and
views  the result as an expression of confidence on the part of  the  Elf
Aquitaine shareholders with regard to the outlook for the growth  of  the
new  Group which will rank as the fourth largest major oil company in the
world.

At  the  close of the exchange offer, Totalfina has received  234,534,339
Elf  Aquitaine shares and 39,621,478 Elf Aquitaine ADSs, which represents
globally  254,345,078 Elf Aquitaine shares. Including the  8,485,797  Elf
Aquitaine shares held by Elf Aquitaine which were not tendered, Totalfina
directly and indirectly holds 262,830,875 shares of Elf Aquitaine.

After making the exchange for the tendered Elf Aquitaine shares and ADSs,
Totalfina  will have issued 371,735,114 new shares of its own  for  which
applications have been made on the Paris, London and Brussels  exchanges.
The Totalfina ADSs exchanged for the Elf Aquitaine ADSs will be listed on
the New York Stock Exchange.