New FPSO contract offshore Gabon for Petroleo Nautipa

A new contract has been obtained for the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel Petróleo Nautipa. The FPSO is owned and operated by a joint venture between Fred. Olsen Energy ASA and Prosafe ASA.

The contract signed with the Houston based oil company Vaalco Gabon (Etame) Inc. has an approximate value of USD 30 million. The contract is initially for two years with options for Vaalco Gabon (Etame) Inc. to extend for up to three more years.

The FPSO Petróleo Nautipa is today under contract with Canadian Natural Resources in Angola, and is expected to demobilise from its current location during the summer of 2002, be taken to a ship yard for necessary upgrading before being installed on the Etame Field offshore Gabon by September 2002.

The contract is subject approval by the Gabonese authorities' of Vaalco Gabon (Etame) Inc.'s Field Development Plan by the 20th of September 2001.

Prosafe owns/operates a fleet of five FPSO/FSOs including the Petroleo Nautipa with a sixth unit (Espoir) currently under conversion into an FPSO. Espoir will commence a fixed 10-year contract early next year on the Espoir Field offshore the Ivory Coast for Canadian Natural Resources.

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 vessels outside the North Sea. Operating revenues reached NOK 2.5 billion in 2000. The company employs approx. 1500 people. Prosafe operates in the North Sea, South East Asia, India, Egypt, West Africa, Azerbaijan and the Gulf of Mexico and is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. Prosafe is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ticker code PRS. For more information, check www.prosafecorp.no.

Tananger 22 August 2001