BRUSSELS Belgium AP France's oil giant Total SA has agreed to take over Belgium's Petrofina SA to create the sixth-largest oil company in the world seeking to cut costs in an increasingly competitive sector deflated by low crude prices. The move was the latest in a series of mergers affecting the global oil market. The new company known as Total Fina will seek quotation at the Paris Brussels New York and London stock exchanges a joint statement said. ``The move is part of global change oil prices have practically been cut in half over the past year. All companies are seeking to survive in this new situation'' said Total Chairman Thierry Desmarest. ``The business environment will be tougher than in the past years.'' The agreement is based on a stock swap that provides nine Total shares for two Petrofina shares. When the operation will be over Total will control about 41 percent of Petrofina Belgium's largest industrial company. It will bid for the rest of the Petrofina shares later. The market capitalization of both companies combined stood at 1391 billion Belgian francs dlrs 39.9 billion. The new group would employ 69100 people. The companies said the employment totals would largely remain the same under the new company. The Paris stock exchange was not immediately convinced and Total shares took a big hit falling almost 10 percent in early trading Tuesday. ``When you add a sliding dollar and sluggish crude oil prices to the fact that investors have no details yet to gauge the benefits of the Petrofina takeover you get a tumbling stock'' said a Paris trader. Petrofina's stock stood at 14250 francs dlrs 407.9 Friday before it was suspended for Monday's trading. The deal put the value at 19.482 francs dlrs 557.7 a jump in value of more than a third. ``We have to recognize that the value today is higher than what we could get as a stand-alone company in the medium term'' said Francois Cornelis head of Petrofina. The merger comes amid many changes in the oil industry. In August British Petroleum announced a dlrs 49 billion takeover of Amoco Corp. And The Washington Post reported Tuesday that an agreement had been reached for Exxon Corp. to buy Mobil. The oil companies the two largest in the United States say only that talks are ongoing. Petrofina stock has been gaining ground in recent days on rumors that the company was in talks with France's Elf Aquitaine SA Total SA and Italy's ENI SpA. ``The combination of Total and Petrofina will allow the new entity to capture substantial productivity gains particularly in the North Sea and to expand its positions in the deep offshore United States Angola'' a joint statement said. ``In refining-marketing Total Fina will hold solid positions'' in the European Union. ``Joint management of the refineries and the marketing networks should yield substantial productivity gains'' the statement said. A combined general meeting of shareholders has been called for Jan. 14 to approve the agreement. Total said a public offering on the remaining Petrofina shares will follow. Petrofina which employs 14700 people worldwide is one of Belgium's biggest industrial companies. It is best known for its refining and distribution operations in Europe and the United States. Total SA employs 54400 and is the smaller of France's two oil companies and has aggressively expanded its upstream business mainly through exploration and especially in gas. UR; rac-dj APW19981201.0047.txt.body.html APW19981201.0630.txt.body.html