ABU DHABI, 8 Feb, 05 (WAM) - Total Abu AI Bukhoosh hosted its 30th Anniversaryunder the patronage of Yousef Omair Bin Yousef, Secretary General ofthe Supreme Petroleum Council and Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC.

Thierry Desmarest, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TOTAL, waspresent on the occasion.

The Company marked its anniversary with a celebration of 30 years ofsuccessful oil and gas production from the Abu AI Bukhoosh Site. Manydiplomats, Total Senior Management and officials were among the guestsas well as the employees of Total in the UAE and Total Abu AI Bukhoosh.

In his speech to mark the occasion, Desmarest spoke about the successstory of Total Abu AI Bukhoosh since the late Sheikh Zayed bin SultanAI Nahyan, signed the concession agreement with Total in 1972.

Desmarest said that in 1992, the first phase of Khuff gas productionstarted, marking a new era for Total Abu AI Bukhoosh. Today, the ADMA-OPCOoperated Offshore Khuff Gas Development Project is carrying out the secondphase development of Khuff reserves. "When full export production willbe reached, Total Abu AI Bukhoosh will become one of the largest offshoregas suppliers in the UAE," he said.

Referring to the company's early operations, Desmarest said: "Whenwe first started operating Abu AI Bukhoosh field in 1974, its expectedlifespan was just 15 years, but with the permanent support of ADNOC andSPC our fully dedicated teams have implemented state of the art know-howand technologies in a carefully planned manner, allowing Total Abu AIBukhoosh to significantly outlive the industry's average life cycle of15-20 years - exceeding everyone's expectations and setting an examplefor oil companies in the region.

"The focus of our efforts has not been limited to production, however.

Personnel safety has always been a paramount objective. Thorough dedication,method and hard work allowed our personnel to keep the incident ratioamong the lowest in the industry, in spite of sour gas production incomplex and ageing installations," he said.

"By pursuing ambitious, sustainable development objectives, we havecommitted ourselves to preserving the environment and contributing tothe community development with projects for UAE Nationals and also localwildlife.

"With our Asset Integrity Management System and Sustainable Developmentprogrammes being constantly improved to meet ever increasing challenges,we can confidently envision many years of production ahead of us. Byremaining at the cutting-edge of technology, we have managed to maximizeproduction, minimize safety and environmental risks, and extend the lifeof our wells and production installations.

" We could not have achieved our goals without the continuous supportof H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed AI Nahyan, President of United ArabEmirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Supreme PetroleumCouncil, for his vision to develop the petroleum sector in the UAE.

following the steps of the nation's late leader H.H. Sheikh Zayed BinSultan AI Nahyan, who entrusted us with the development of the Abu AIBukhoosh field. We are also grateful for the encouragement of GeneralSheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed AI Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Memberof the Supreme Petroleum Council." Total is the world's fourth-largestinternational oil and gas company, operating in over 130 countries.

Total employs more than 110,000 people and in 2003 turnover totalled1 04.7 billion euros.

Total, which has signed its first concession agreement in Abu Dhabiback in 1939, is the main partner of ADNOC in the onshore and offshoreoil and gas ventures such as ADCO, ADMA-OPCO, GASCO, ADGAS, NGSCO, andin petrochemicals such as FERTIL, and has partnership with ADWEA in theTAWEELAH A 1 power plant, as well as of its newest venture with MUBADALAin the DOLPHIN Project.

In Dubai, Total is also present in offshore oil production in DPC, andin lubricants manufacturing in Jebel Ali.

Located 180 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi, on the marine borderbetween Abu Dhabi and Iran, the Abu AI Bukhoosh field is spread over20 square kilometres within the 115 square kilometres of the Total concessionarea. The reservoir formations are 115 to 200 million years old.