ELF, prior to its merger with TOTAL that was initiated mid-1999, had been involved in CAPE-OPEN since 1995, initially within the industrial consortia OO-CAPE and OS-CAPE and then in the European funded project CAPE-OPEN.
Next TOTAL participated in the European funded Global CAPE-OPEN and GCO Support projects that completed the work done in the CAPE-OPEN project. TOTAL was a founding member of CO-LaN in 2001. TOTAL has indeed been pushing for CAPE-OPEN to happen, has led workpackages (Numerical workpackage in CAPE-OPEN project, CO-LaN workpackage in Global CAPE-OPEN project) and participated in the steering committees of all CAPE-OPEN related projects, has been promoting CAPE-OPEN to many of its industrial and academic partners (for instance at Scandpower and at Tulsa University), has been using CAPE-OPEN in a number of its engineering activities with results published in collaboration with various parties involved (GLCC, TUWAX, TINA), and has filled the Treasurer position within CO-LaN for many years.
ELF, and the TOTAL, were represented by Dr Michel PONS (till end of 2004), then Dr Jacques BOUSQUET, and in the final years of participation of TOTAL in CO-LaN, by Dr Francis LUCK.
On November 22, 2016, Philippe BAPTISTE, Chief Technology Officer at TOTAL, informed CO-LaN that TOTAL will be withdrawing from CO-LaN as of December 31, 2016. While recognizing that TOTAL has had a very good experience working with CO-LaN over the many years of its involvement in CAPE-OPEN, Philippe BAPTISTE stated that TOTAL’s interest in CAPE-OPEN has been decreasing over the recent years and does not anymore justify TOTAL’s participation in CO-LaN.