Venezuela's Yucal Placer Field Brought on Stream

Total announces that Phase 1 of the Yucal Placer gas development, located around 100 kilometers southeast of Caracas, Venezuela, has been brought on stream.

Total (69.5%), in partnership with Repsol YPF and Venezuela's Inelectra and Otepi, was awarded the Yucal Placer Norte and Yucal Placer Sur blocks in 2001, as part of the opening of the country's gas industry to private investment. Operations are handled by a specially created company, Ypergas.

Phase 1 production will be around 100 million cubic feet of gas per day. The gas is distributed via the national transmission grid. Phase 2 development would increase production to around 300 million cubic feet per day from 2007.

Also in Venezuela, Total is the main shareholder (47%) in the Sincor project to upgrade extra heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt to produce around 180,000 barrels of syncrude per day. It also pumps 31,000 barrels of light crude per day from the Jusepin field (55%) in northeastern Venezuela.