Total gains from oil price surge

Total is the latest oil firm to announce big profits

French oil giant Total has reported a 62% rise in profits for the last three months of 2007 as record oil prices and new production plants boosted business.

Net profit hit 3.6bn euros (£2.6bn; $5.2bn) in the period, when oil was mainly priced between $90 and $100 a barrel - 50% more than a year earlier.

Total said that 2007 market conditions had been "generally favourable".

The results came as the International Energy Agency revised down its predictions for oil demand in 2008.

It said its new forecast was the result of a slowdown in many economies.

Total, which also said new operations in Angola and Qatar had helped to lift profits, is the latest oil giant to announce massive profit growth.

Exxon posted a net profit of $11.7bn in the last three months of 2007, while Royal Dutch Shell saw its profits rise 60% in the period.

Oil was trading at just under $93 a barrel by mid-morning on Wednesday as an expected rise in US crude inventories offset concerns over Venezuela halting supply to Exxon Mobil

US light sweet crude was 15 cents lower at $92.63 a barrel while London Brent crude slipped by 3 cents to $92.83.