Inspiring
women to lead in the energy sector and industry at large to improve the
imbalance of representation, is an ambition to be realised by all, according to
Mariam Kane-Garcia, the newly appointed CEO and Managing Director of Total
South Africa. 



She wants
to encourage and inspire people to push the boundaries of possibility,
regardless of the minority groups they belong to; while at the same time emphasising
the importance of not doing so at the expense or the credibility of minority
groups, specifically women in leadership. 



She
lives with the conviction that a diverse workforce and management team drives
the competitiveness of the business, the ability to innovate, the ability to
attract opportunities and their social license to operate. 



“At
Total, we enable all our employees to develop their professional skills and
advance in their career without discrimination of any kind.” 



However,
the presence of women leadership in the energy sector is still insufficient,
despite progress. The ‘Global Energy Talent Index Report 2020’, found that
women make up only 8% of the workforce in the global oil &amp; gas sector, 9%
in each of the petrochemical and power sectors, 12% in the nuclear sector, and
15% in the renewables sector.



Furthermore,
says the report, only 17% of women (of an already small pool) are placed on
leadership training programmes, compared to 22% of men. And the fact that women
have shown preference to training, learning and development suggests that
they’re still coming up against a glass ceiling and are eager for opportunities
to smash through it.



Mariam
emphasises that there is an opportunity for all in tackling the imbalance and
being catalysts for change instead of casualties for change. Diversity is a key
performance lever for success and both men and women have a critical role to
play in realising much change to rebalance industries. The task is not to
shoulder the typical roles assigned in industry, but for women and men to
interlink as the connective fibre that will materialise the successful growth
of industries in a notable way, as well as the economy. 



The
reasons for women’s underrepresentation in the sector are complex. There are
historical factors. Even today, research suggest that young girls are not
encouraged to eye careers in what is considered a technical, or masculine
industry. 



With
that in mind, it’s critical that women pursue and embrace the opportunities
that come their way, says Mariam Kane-Garcia, who is the first woman to hold
the senior position at Total South Africa. “Total offered me a managed career
path and I seized these opportunities successfully,” she says.



This
reciprocal relationship with Total has kept Kane-Garcia with the company for
nearly 20 years. She grew up in West Africa – Mauritania and Côte d&#8217;Ivoire –
and attended the ESCP Business School in Paris. She joined Total shortly after
finishing at the ESCP in 2001, and has held a series of positions in finance,
strategy, and business development at group offices in France, the UK,
Singapore and Vietnam. In 2019, she moved to South Africa as Executive Vice President
for marketing and services Southern Africa, and as CEO and Managing Director of
Total South Africa.



As a
vocal champion for diversity and inclusivity, she feels strongly that women
should be represented, not as a minority, but because they are deserving. This
will ensure that the wrong message is not sent and that it does not dilute the
impact of their performance in achieving their status. 



Not
only do women have to be placed in more leadership positions, but they also
need more exposure to technical roles, starting with education and vocational
training. 



Total
South Africa is committed to long term partnerships within the communities in
which it operates and has partnered with the Department of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Female Entrepreneurship Awards since 2003. Total South
Africa also supports other talent linked initiatives like Buskaid and Afrika
Tikkun, to create shared value and ensure the development of women at
grassroots.



In
2006, the company created its own Total Women Initiative for Communication and
Exchange (TWICE) Network as a platform to help women find their way and fulfil
their potential in the company, and Kane-Garcia herself set up the Twice Network
for Total UK’s upstream operations. 



When
it comes to gender equality, both women and men have to contribute.



We
stand to benefit from women and men’s unique contributions to truly propel the
energy sector forward. We need to create solutions with a business model as to
not simply place a band-aid on issues but rather create sustainable solutions
with a long-term commitment to solve and defy barriers. 



She concludes that, “If we are more inclusive, we are more connected; and if we are more diverse, we are more creative in solving the challenges we face.”



Content provided by Total

DSCF7750

Here’s how Mariam Kane-Garcia is leading the way at Total South Africa

French oil and gas major Total’s discovery offshore South Africa could be around 1 billion barrels of total resources and is “probably quite big”, the company’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanne, said on Thursday.



Total said it had made a significant gas condensate discovery after drilling its Brulpadda prospects on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin.



“It is gas condensate and light oil. Mainly gas. There are four other prospects on the license that we have to drill, it could be around 1 billion barrels of total resources of gas and condensate,” Pouyanne said.



The Brulpadda well encountered 57 meters of net gas condensate in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. The well was deepened to a final depth of 3,633 meters and has also been successful.



“With this discovery, Total has opened a new world-class gas and oil play and is well positioned to test several follow-on prospects on the same block,” Total’s senior vice president for exploration Kevin McLachlan said in a statement.



Brulpadda is one of several highly anticipated exploration prospects for the year for the company and the sector. Total has said the field could hold between 500 million to over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.



Following the success of Brulpadda and confirmation of its potential, Total and its partners plan to acquire 3D seismic this year, followed by up to four exploration wells on the license, the company said.



Total has a 45 percent working interest and is the operator of the Block 11B/12B which covers an area of 19,000 square kilometers. Other partners include Qatar Petroleum with a 25 percent stake, CNR International holds 20 percent and Main Street, a South African consortium, with 10 percent. -Reuters



-Bate Felix

RC172B548A50

Total’s South Africa Discovery Could Be Around 1 Billion Barrels: CEO

Total is launching its biggest exploration campaign for years in 2019 as part of a turnaround plan that is ditching the company’s focus on risky long-shots in favor of areas known to contain commercial levels of oil or gas. 



The French major aims to drill 23 wells this year, its senior vice president for exploration, Kevin McLachlan said, in waters off Mauritania, Senegal, Namibia, South Africa, Guyana and Brazil.



While the company declined to say how many wells it drilled in 2018, McLachlan said 2019 would be Total’s largest program in years. The 23 wells planned represent about a trebling of the levels of 2017 and 2016, and is higher even than the 20 drilled in 2013, before the oil price crash.



The company’s new game plan is to concentrate efforts on emerging and mature basins, which offer a greater chance of exploration success. It is moving away from its higher-risk, higher-reward strategy of targeting “frontier” areas that have not been commercially exploited, an approach which yielded scant rewards and saw outlier Total fall behind rivals.



As a result the proportion of its exploration capital the African-focused company is spending on frontier areas has dropped to 15 percent, from 40 percent five years ago.



“We were spending a lot of money in frontier,” said McLachlan, a Canadian geophysicist who joined Total in 2015 to lead the five-year revamp of its exploration strategy. “Now we want balance.”



Most of the wells it aims to drill this year will target known giant fields, he added.



Total has broken ranks with some rivals in recent years and largely ignored the rush to U.S. shale. It is looking to eke out conventional resources, particularly in Africa where it has the biggest industry presence. The strategy carries risks though, and has left the company exposed to the kind of political instability that has deterred others.



McLachlan said Total’s exploration budget would remain broadly in line with 2018, when it was $1.2 billion, and 2017, when it was $1.1 billion. That is still less than half the level of 2014, when the price crash forced all majors to cut spending.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">LAGGING IN DISCOVERIES</h4>



Appraisals of discoveries in 2018 could offer signs that Total’s shift in exploration strategy is paying off.



The company announced a 1 trillion cubic feet gas discovery off Shetland in the North Sea last year. Appraisals are ongoing for the Ballymore discovery in the Gulf of Mexico with Chevron, and Calypso in Cyprus with Eni.



A major discovery in 2019 could cement the turnaround after a drought between 2009 and 2014 when it spent billions in exploration with little barrels to show for it, while rivals Eni Exxon Mobil and BP, racked up successes.



Yet there is still work to do in terms of converting exploration dollars into commercial success.



Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said Total had aggressively snapped up exploration blocks in 2017 and 2018, which took it to the top of the industry table with over 189,000 square km added since 2015 &#8211; around 70,000 higher than its nearest competitor.



But in terms of discoveries since 2015, Total still lags some peers, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Andrew Latham.



“It is clearly behind Exxon Mobil. Exxon’s success in Guyana marks them out as industry leader,” said Latham, adding that Eni’s Zohr gas discovery in Egypt was the next top find.



“Thereafter, it is competing well with the other majors, it has been involved in a string of multi-hundred million barrel big new finds, whereas in the previous four years it would have been one of the weaker or weakest of the majors.”



As part of its turnaround plan, Total has created five regional exploration hubs with a concentration of geoscientists, instead of teams spread out in 38 countries.



Caterpillar shares drop on missed profit



A new, central 10-person leadership team reviews and chooses projects, compared with decisions being made locally before, while people with exploration track records have been placed in executive positions for the first time.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">S.AFRICA RESULTS EXPECTED ‘IN DAYS’</h4>



Like some competitors, including Exxon and BP, Total is looking to deepwater exploration at a time when technological advances &#8211; particularly in 3D digital seismic imaging &#8211; is aiding a comeback in that area following a decade when industry advances have been focused on onshore shale.



Of the 23 wells in Total’s drill program this year, it has already started work at the deepwater Brulpadda field off South Africa. Two industry sources close to the project say the potential for a discovery is high and could signal a game-changer not only for Total, but also for the country.



“We are expecting the results in the coming days,” Total’s Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said.



While Total has said the field could hold between 500 million to over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, one of its partner in the project is more upbeat.



“The outlook for finding hydrocarbons is extremely high. The question is whether it is gas or oil, and whether it is a good-quality reservoir,” Keith Hill, CEO of Africa Oil Corp, a minority stakeholder in the field, told Reuters, adding that the field could hold 1.5 to 3 billion barrels.



Other oil companies and South African authorities are likely to be watching closing.



“Any potential discovery will ultimately result in the attraction of other oil companies and the growing of the oil and exploration and production industry in South Africa,” said Viljoen Storm, acting chief executive of the country’s state-owned Petroleum Agency. -Reuters



-Bate Felix and Wendell Roelf

Daily Life As Malawi Looks To Economic Growth

Oil Major Total Plans Biggest Exploration Drive in Years

Its 7:30AM in Victoria Island, Lagos, and across the road from Oniru, a suburb in the city, cars are piled up in front of the Total petrol station. There is also a separate line of about 100 people with empty yellow containers waiting to be filled. Toke Ogunlesi, founder of GQ Shoes, a shoe manufacturing business is number 30 in the queue of irritated car drivers – some of whom slept in their cars.
“This is really terrible, I have been queuing for the past three hours even though I arrived very early this morning. Yesterday, I couldn’t get any fuel and so I decided I would leave the house early today but unfortunately that plan did not work,” says Ogunlesi.
Business has slowed down significantly for his fledgling business, which, like many businesses in Africa’s largest economy, is hampered by severe power cuts. Nigeria has a diversified economy, however, the country’s monetary policy is heavily dependent on oil. The finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, in an interview with Reuters, said the country is expected to post budget deficits for the next two to three years. Reuters puts the 2016 deficit at 2.2 trillion naira (around $11 billion).
“Firstly, Nigeria has a revenue challenge, oil prices are low and this is leading to production challenges. We lost Forcados which is a major terminal for exporting crude oil, that means about 250,000 barrels have been shut down and cannot leave the country at the moment, so we are not pushing as much production as we used to. This means the little revenue we are making right now has to be dispersed to finance imports for various things, like foreign exchange (FX) for imports and refineries, normal FX for fuel imports and other production costs,” says Dolapo Oni, an analyst with Ecobank.
“On the other side, the industry also has a regulated pricing structure so marketers are not able to sell at whatever prices they need to sell to recoup whatever costs they incur in the process of buying and selling the petroleum products. So, as a result, most of them are either not ready to sell and keep that loss or, if they had the opportunity, they will sell at a much higher price so that they can recoup the costs that they are facing. They are also faced with higher cost of FX because most of them have to buy their FX from the parallel markets among the various other charges that they face when they also try and load at the depot.”
The restriction of foreign currency in the country has also had a negative impact on the oil market, which is a dollar-denominated business. According to the Shippers Association of Lagos State, the forex restriction has led to 50% of Nigerian bound cargos being diverted to Cotonou, Benin. But there may be help on the horizon.
“I think the situation is gradually easing because we now have FX supply coming from oil and gas companies. The upstream guys, like Shell, Total and ENI, have been tasked to provide about $200 million to some of the fuel marketers to assist them to import more products into the country. This is not a sustainable solution because you are asking these guys to also part with FX, which they also need to invest in other parts of the world where they have operations. They cannot continue to always give us $200 million every month or every year and also I do not know what we have given up as a country to be able to receive that help because there has been a trade-off somewhere,” says Oni.
The current dilemma has however presented an unlikely opportunity for one entrepreneur. Fueledup is an app that has been created by 24-year-old Nigerian developer, Subomi Owo-Odusi. The app is an on demand delivery service, where customers sign up to request fuel.
“It is more of creating a convenience that is necessary. It picks your location naturally with Google location services. There is a request for how much you want and the delivery time. We have three delivery times; there is priority, expectant and flexible. Flexible is within three hours, expectant is within 30 minutes and two hours, and priority is within 30 minutes and an hour. So, take for instance a situation where you wake up and you go to take a shower, by the time you finish getting ready in an hour you realize that your car is already filled up,” says Odusi.
The app is scheduled to be launched in May and has already received a positive response.
“We are speaking to private depots that we can get our supply from. Eventually we want this to become a lifestyle where people ask ‘have you got fueled up today?’”
The company is looking to expand rapidly outside Lagos to other major cities in the country.
A critical success factor for start-ups like Odusi’s in this climate is the cost of goods and services.
“Inflationary measures are rising. Prices have been increasing steadily. It got to 11.3 percent last year and the figure is due to come out this week and I am already hearing that it will be around 12.8 percent, which is significantly higher than the last inflation figure… It is the lesson of the crisis, when you don’t save or put money aside for a rainy day, when the rainy day comes you will be wet,” says Oni.
He believes the government should push for deregulation of the industry to prevent this crisis from repeating itself.
“In a market that is regulated, it is very easy for these conditions to happen because once we have that common pricing structure people tend to come strongly under unions. Once we deregulate this, there is no tendency that the union will tell someone to shut down their station because they know that once others are all not selling, they will make more money if they sell. So, unions go weaker in markets that are competitive.”
The influx of foreign currency is expected to ease the current fuel crisis gripping the Nigerian economy, however, the economic hardships are far from over. The decline in oil prices and corresponding decline in revenues, has had a knock-on effect on the oil sector and other ancillary markets.
“The only way out is that we should allow the market to decide where the naira should be priced at and, as a result, where the products within the economy should also be priced to allow for a competitive business environment,” says Oni.

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