Statement re Gas Project

Total Fina Elf.
28 January 2002

Syria: Start-up of the Deir Ez Zor gas project

Paris, January 28, 2002 - The Desgas project utilising associated gas production
from eastern Syria's Deir Ez Zor region has reached full operational capacity.

The Deir Ez Zor gas project was awarded on a 50/50 basis to TotalFinaElf and
Conoco (the lead operator) in early 1999 by Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral
Resources and the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC). Representing an overall
investment of approximately $400 million, Desgas comprises two elements: the
collection, treatment and export of associated gas from Deir-Ez-Zor region to
the national gas transmission network, and secondly the production of condensate
from the Tabiyeh field (operated by TotalFinaElf) through gas reinjection.

The 170-kilometre gathering system transports up to 5 million cubic metres of
gas per day to a new gas processing plant. With a capacity of 13 million cubic
metres of gas per day, this facility also processes 8 million cubic metres of
gas per day from the Tabiyeh field before its reinjection into the reservoir.

The processed gas not reinjected at Tabiyeh, is shipped via a 250-kilometer
pipeline to the Syrian national network, where is then used to fuel power plants
and industrial facilities in the west of the country. The liquefied petroleum
gas associated with production is exported via a rail terminal, while the
condensate is transported through the Syrian Company for Oil Transport (SCOT)
Line to the Banias terminal.

The Desgas project puts an end to the flaring of associated gas and will sharply
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region. The project establishes
TotalFinaElf as a key gas industry player in Syria, where the Group already
operates a production of around 50,000 barrels per day of oil in partnership
with the SPC.


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