Thierry Desmarest Quotations

We believe that being strong everywhere else in the world but in the U.S. isn't a handicap,

I believe that it is necessary today to join forces to assure continued solid growth and to take our place as an oil major of the first rank at a time when the industry is restructuring on a global scale,

Further downstream in the oil chain, retail, marketing and petrochemicals suffered as a result of rapidly rising raw material costs,

We have very limited reserves in Bolivia. For us it's clearly not material.

We've closed the gap in terms of production capacity and profitability. To embark on another phase of consolidation, you have to find new synergies and not run into any regulatory problems, ... We've done the necessary mergers to bring shareholder value.

We do not pretend to be a worldwide player, but we want to be a top player wherever we are,

Continued demand growth and a high rate of capacity utilization for production and refining drove crude prices and refining margins to very high levels in the second quarter of 2005,

The results were in line with expectations .... As expected too, production was down in the quarter,

At a time when global demand for petroleum products was already strong, major disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico drove oil prices and refining margins to very high levels in the third quarter,

In exceptional circumstances, we will make an effort to spread the rise.