Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
RFI

Total sells Canadian tar sands project

Total's logo on a Paris building (REUTERS/Regis Duvignau)

Total has agreed with its partners to sell the Joslyn tar sands project in Canada. The French oil giant was the operator, holding a 38-percent share.

Total announced on Friday that it was to sell its share and had agreed with partners Suncor Energy Joslyn Partnership (36.75 percent), Joslyn Partnership (15 percent) and Inpex Canada Ltd (10 percent) to sell to Cnadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL).

The deal is worth 225 million Canadian dollars (148 million euros).

The Joslyn project has been on hold since oil prices fell in 2014.

“Reducing our exposure to Canada’s oil sands by selling this asset is in line with our global strategy to focus our oil investments on low breakeven resources and develop a resilient portfolio in the mid and long term," Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total said.

Total has also reduced its share of the Fort Hills oil sands project, which has experienced problems and only been able to produce regularly since the beginning of this year.

The company has been present in Canada’s upstream since 1999.

It holds a 24.58 percent interest in Fort Hills and a 50 percent interest, along with the US's ConocoPhillips, in the Surmont project.

In 2017 Total’s production in Canada was 59,000 barrels of oil per day.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.