Creation in Brussels of

the Compagnie Financière

belge des Pétroles,

known as PetroFina.

1920

1924

Creation of the Compagnie française

des Pétroles (CFP)

On September 20, 1923, the French

President of the Council Raymond Poincaré

entrusts an important mission to

Ernest Mercier: create a “tool capable

of carrying out a national oil policy”.

Six months later, the Compagnie française

des Pétroles is born on March 28, 1924.

The IPC is

awarded a 75-year

concession

on March 14.

1925

1927

Initial discovery at the Kirkuk

field in Iraq. CFP makes its first

discovery, under an agreement

with the government of Iraq.

Oil rises to the surface in Kirkuk,

a field with considerable reserves.

This marks the beginning of TOTAL’s

adventure in the Middle East.

CFP shares

are first traded

on the Paris

Stock Exchange.

1929

Start of production of the Gonfreville

refinery in Normandy (France),

with an annual capacity of

900,000 tons of crude oil.

1933

1939

Discovery of the Saint-Marcet

gas field, the first hydrocarbon

reserves found in France.

Creation of Régie Autonome

des Pétroles (RAP), which later

becomes the Elf Group,

to explore a vast area around

Saint Gaudens.

1941

Creation of Société

nationale des pétroles

d’Aquitaine (SNPA).

1951

SNPA discovers the Lacq gas

field in France.

The gas rises from a depth of

3,450 meters at extremely high

pressure. The specialist crews take

five days and four nights to harness

the eruption. Lacq is later found to be

a gigantic natural gas field containing

some 262 billion cubic meters.

1954

Launch of the

TOTAL brand

by CFP.

At the beginning

of the 1950s,

the leaders of CFP and CFR

(Compagnie Française de Raffinage)

decide to create their own distribution

network, and a brand for it. The new

TOTAL brand and logo are adopted

in 1954

1956

Discovery of the Edjeleh Hassi RMel

gas and Hassi Messaoud oil fields

in the Algerian Sahara

The exploration campaigns that

SN Repal and CFPA had initiated

in 1946 result in the discovery

in 1956 of huge oil fields in Edjeleh

and Hassi Messaoud and gas

reserves in Hassi RMel

First offshore well

on Umm Shaif

Abu Dhabi

1958

1961

Discovery of

the first offshore

fields in Gabon

The Anguille field is

the first one found

Launch of the Elf brand.

A countrywide campaign

Red circles are coming introduces

France to the Elf brand starting

on the night of April 27 1967

1967

1970

Elf takes control of Antar

TOTAL takes a permit

in Indonesia and goes on

to find the Bekapai field

in 1972 and the gigantic

Handil field in 1974

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