A press release said that following the oil price fall in 2014, the Joslyn project partners decided to put its further development on hold.
"Therefore, activities have since been limited to fulfilling regulatory requirements and ensuring the safety of the site," it added.
Total Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the sale was in line with the company's global strategy to focus its oil investments on "low breakeven resources and develop a resilient portfolio in the mid and long term". "It is also consistent with the gradual reduction of our stake in the Fort Hills oil sands project in 2017," he added.
According to the statement, Total has been present in Canada's upstream since 1999. The group holds a 24.58 percent interest in Fort Hills, and a 50 percent interest in the Surmont project, an asset in the Alberta oil sands region. In 2017, the group's production in Canada was 59,000 barrels of oil per day.
Canadian Natural is a senior oil and natural gas production company, with continuing operations in its core areas located in Western Canada, the U.K. portion of the North Sea and offshore Africa.
The transaction, subject to regulatory approval by the Canadian Competition Bureau, is targeted to close on Sept. 28, according to a separate press release from the CNRL.
