Drilling Report

Total S.A.
4 July 2003


                    Gas Discovery in the UK North Sea

Paris - July 4, 2003 - Total has made significant gas and condensate discovery 
in Block 29/5b, in the Central Graben Area of the North Sea UK, around 240 
kilometers east of Aberdeen.

Exploration well 29/5b-F7z was spudded to evaluate the potential of the West
Franklin prospect, where the water depth is 93 meters, in one of the most
challenging high pressure/high temperature environments yet encountered in the
North Sea (1,150 bars and more than 200 oC). On test, the well flowed at a rate
of around one million cubic meters of gas per day, with 2,000 barrels per day of 
condensate.

The discovery, which was made at 5,750 meters and is one of the deepest ever
achieved on the UK Continental Shelf, will be put into production from the
adjacent Franklin facilities. The Elgin and Franklin fields, which came on
stream in 2001, currently produce 240,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Condensate is transported to the Scottish coast via the Forties Pipeline System
and then to the Kinneil Terminal. Gas is transported to the Bacton terminal via
the Shearwater Elgin Area Line, from where it can supply the UK market or
continental Europe via the Interconnector.

This new discovery reinforces Total's operations in the UK sector of the North
Sea and confirms the Group's strategy of applying its experience in high
pressure/high temperature environments to search for new reserves.

Total operates the Elgin/Franklin fields and the West Franklin exploration well
on behalf of partners Elgin Franklin Oil & Gas (Elf Exploration UK, 35.784%; Gaz
de France, 10.389%), Eni UK Limited, BG Group, Ruhrgas, Chevron-Texaco,
ExxonMobil, Dyas and Oranje-Nassau.


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