High oil prices boost profits at France's Total

Feb 10, 2012, 8:44 GMT

Paris - High oil prices boosted net fourth-quarter profits at French oil giant Total by 6 per cent to 3.7 billion dollars, the group announced Friday.

Net profits for the full year rose 17 per cent to 15.9 billion dollars. Turnover grew 22 per cent to 257 billion dollars.

Last year, oil prices averaged around 110 dollars per barrel.

'This environment has been favourable for the upstream (exploration and production), but it was difficult for the downstream activities (refining), notably in Europe,' Total CEO Christophe de Margerie said in a statement.

The group's 'crowning achievement' in 2011 was the start of production at the offshore Pazflor field in Angola, he said.

Total plans to spend 20 billion dollars on investment in 2012, compared with 22 billion dollars in 2011.

The board of directors has proposed a full-year dividend of 2.28 euros per share.