Total sells Tuban stake

Total sells Tuban stake

PARIS (Reuters): French energy group Total said yesterday it
had agreed to sell its 12.5 percent stake in the Tuban permit in
Indonesia to Santa Fe Energy of the United States, as part of a
strategy of selling non-core assets.

The permit is on Java island and includes the Mudi onshore
field, which produces 7,000 barrels of oil daily, Total said in a
statement. It gave no financial details.

"All of the group's output in Indonesia is currently generated
by the Mahakam permit in East Kalimantan, where Total reported a
1997 output of 26 million barrels of oil and condensates and 12.3
billion cubic metres of gas," it said.

It said it now supplies about half the gas needs of the
Bontang plant, the world's largest liquefaction complex. It would
continue to develop the Mahakam permit, with start-up production
in three new fields at Peciko, Sisis and Nubi due in the next
five years.

It said it would be the leading gas producer in Indonesia by
2003.

Total said it also expanded its scope of exploration elsewhere
in Indonesia in 1997.