LONDON, April 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stolt Offshore S.A. (Nasdaq:SOSA) (Oslo Stock Exchange:STO) today announced the appointment of James B. Hurlock to the Board of Directors. Mr. Hurlock replaces Mr. Pierre Laborie, formerly Vice President and Chairman of ETPM, who resigned from the Board on February 6, 2002 on the notification from Vinci that they wished to sell their shares in Stolt Offshore as permitted by the terms of the ETPM acquisition agreement.
Mr. Hurlock is a retired partner of the law firm of White & Case and served as the Chairman of its management committee from 1980 to 2000. He oversaw the firm's operations worldwide and headed its sovereign representation practice. For more than 30 years, he represented the governments of such countries as Indonesia, Turkey, Zaire, Gabon, Morocco, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Peru, Costa Rica, Poland and Croatia. His work for these governments involved debt rescheduling, debt buy-backs, project financings, construction contracts, loan agreements, including loan agreements with multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank, privatization programs, securities offerings, foreign investments, arbitration, tax matters and trade transactions.
He participated in the formation and served on the Board of Northern Offshore Ltd. which, during the 1970's, operated diver lockout submarines and provided other services to the offshore oil industry.
He is Chairman of the International Development Law Institute, a Member of the New York State Bar, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the United States Supreme Court. He holds an A.B. summa cum laude from Princeton University, B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oxford University and a J.D. from the Harvard Law School
Mr. Hurlock is a Member of both the American and the International Bar Associations, a member of the American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a trustee of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law and a director of Orient Express Hotels Ltd. In May 2000 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Mr. Hurlock is a U.S. citizen.
Stolt Offshore is a leading offshore contractor to the oil and gas industry, specializing in technologically sophisticated deepwater engineering, flowline and pipeline lay, construction, inspection and maintenance services. The Company operates in Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Americas.
This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual future results and trends could differ materially from those set forth in such statements due to various factors. Additional information concerning these factors is contained from time to time in the Company's U.S. SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's report on Form 20-F for the year ended November 30, 2000. Copies of these filings may be obtained by contacting the Company or the U.S. SEC.