Total profit rises in third quarter
French oil company Total, Europe’s third largest oil firm, posted a 20 per cent rise in third quarter profit yesterday to €3.3bn (£2.7bn), up from €2.8bn last year. Profits from the refining and chemicals division was up 54 per cent to €564m, from €367m in the third quarter of last year. Oil and gas output came in at 2.27bn barrels of oil a day over the three months to September, up from 2.31bn barrels last year, a decline of two per cent.