The renaming ceremony of the Espoir FPSO conversion project took place at the Keppel shipyard in Singapore on the 22 of October 2001. The vessel was then named the Espoir Ivoirien.
The Espoir Ivoirien is planned to leave the yard during November 2001, heading for the Côte d'Ivoire where after a short installation period it will be producing on the Espoir-field on a 10-year contract, excluding option periods.
Espoir is operated by Ranger Oil Côte d'Ivoire SARL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL), with partners PETROCI Holding and Tullow Côte d'Ivoire Limited.
The project is on schedule and first oil is expected in the first quarter of 2002.
Prosafe is the world's leading owner and operator of semi-submersible service rigs, the largest platform-drilling contractor in Norway and a major owner and operator of floating production- and storage vessels outside the North Sea. Operating revenues reached NOK 2,5 billion in 2000. The company employs approx. 1600 people. Prosafe operates in the North Sea, South-East Asia, India, Egypt, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico. The company is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. Prosafe is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ticker code PRS. For more information, please refer to www.prosafecorp.com.