Elf Aquitaine

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Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003. Elf has been maintained as a major brand of Total. The Elf scandal was, according to The Guardian, "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War".

[edit] History

Elf Aquitaine's heritage is rooted among three pioneering French oil companies; Régie Autonome des Pétroles (RAP), Société Nationale des Pétroles d'Aquitaine (SNPA) and Bureau de Recherches de Pétroles (BRP). These companies formed to exploit the discovery of a gas field in Saint-Marcet in the Aquitaine region of south-western France.

In December 1965 RAP and BRP were merged to form Entreprise de Recherches et d'Activités Pétrolières (ERAP). ERAP had SNPA, Union Générale des Pétroles (UGP), and Union Industrielle des Pétroles (UIP) as subsidiaries. For the first time this organisation controlled all parts of production, from exploration to the filling station.

On April 28, 1967 the company's disparate brands and products were unified under the Elf brand.

In 1976 Elf-ERAP became Société National Elf Aquitaine (SNEA), later Elf Aquitaine. Elf Aquitaine was listed on the NYSE in 1991. In 1996 the French government sold its stake, retaining a Golden Share. In 2000 Elf Aquitaine merged with Total Fina to form TotalFinaElf, which changed its name to Total in 2003. In 1993 Elf was awarded the exclusive contract to the Iraqi Oil Fields by then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

[edit] "The biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since World War II"

The Elf scandal in France was, according to The Guardian, "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War. Elf became a private bank for its executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewellery, fine art, villas and apartments". Iraqi-born Nadhmi Auchi, 13th richest man of Britain and ranked in Forbes, received a 15-month suspended sentence for his involvement in the scandal. Auchi was also linked to the Clearstream scandal, while he is BNP Paribas bank's main private share-holder - until 2001, the money for the Oil-for-Food programme transited through the escrow account of the BNP Paribas [1]. Magistrate Eva Joly investigated the case.

[edit] Motorsport

From its very beginnings Elf has used motor racing as a means of promotion. It began with a four-year association with Matra which began with a French Formula 3 programme which resulted in Henri Pescarolo winning the title. The European Formula 2 Championship fell to Matra the following year with Jean-Pierre Beltoise. And in 1969 the combination won the Formula 1 World Championship with Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart. The aim to win the Le Mans 24 Hours was not achieved until 1972 by which time Elf and Matra had gone their separate ways. Elf, at that time owned by the French state, then undertook a policy to rebuild and promote French motor racing and so began a new long-term relationship with Renault, which was also owned by the French government at the time. Renault still promotes the use of Elf oils in its road cars, while its F1 racing cars also still carry minor Elf sponsorship.

The most famous of the schemes to promote young drivers dates back to the start of the 1970s when Francois Guiter of the Elf petroleum company established what was known as the "Volant Elf". The fastest drivers on each course at the Winfield Racing Schools at Magny Cours and Paul Ricard were asked to return to the school in the autumn to establish who had been the fastest driver of the year. The two winners were each given a full budget to race the following year in Formula Renault. If they were fast enough they would be retained by Elf in Formula 3 and then Formula 2 (or later Formula 3000) and eventually they would get a drive in Formula 1. The first two Pilotes Elf were Patrick Tambay and Didier Pironi and both went on to win Grands Prix. They were followed over the years by Alain Prost, Pascal Fabre, Olivier Grouillard, Paul Belmondo, Eric Bernard, Erik Comas and Olivier Panis all of whom became F1 drivers. In addition Elf often picked up other good drivers and sponsored them, creating a generation of top French drivers in the 1980s and early 1990s.

When Guiter retired Elf decided to change the policy and a revised programme was begun. This aimed to create a scheme for drivers, mechanics and engineers. It was called "La Filiere" and it now funds as many as eight drivers each year in Formula Renault Elf Campus and four in Formula 3. Unfortunately budgets have been cut and so there is no financial help beyond that and Frenchmen are no longer arriving in F1 as once they were able to do.