Total sells Canadian tar sands project

Total has agreed with its partners to sell the Joslyn tar sands project in Canada. The French oil giant was the operator, holding a 38-percent share.

Total's logo on a Paris building REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

Total announced on Friday that it was to sell its share and had agreed with partners Suncor Energy Joslyn Partnership (36.75 percent), Joslyn Partnership (15 percent) and Inpex Canada Ltd (10 percent) to sell to Cnadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL).

The deal is worth 225 million Canadian dollars (148 million euros).

The Joslyn project has been on hold since oil prices fell in 2014.

“Reducing our exposure to Canada’s oil sands by selling this asset is in line with our global strategy to focus our oil investments on low breakeven resources and develop a resilient portfolio in the mid and long term," Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total said.

Total has also reduced its share of the Fort Hills oil sands project, which has experienced problems and only been able to produce regularly since the beginning of this year.

The company has been present in Canada’s upstream since 1999.

It holds a 24.58 percent interest in Fort Hills and a 50 percent interest, along with the US's ConocoPhillips, in the Surmont project.

In 2017 Total’s production in Canada was 59,000 barrels of oil per day.