Statoil exercises option on Gullfaks

Prosafe Drilling Services AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Prosafe ASA, has received confirmation that Statoil exercises the first of three 1 year options for platform drilling on Gullfaks. The option period lasts from 1 April 2002 to 1 April 2003, and has an estimated value of about MNOK 200. Further 2 x 1 year option periods remains.

Prosafe Drilling Services has performed platform drilling and related services on Gullfaks continuously since 1986, after first having accomplished a project and planning phase since the contract was awarded already in 1983. Prosafe views this option exercise as yet another confirmation of the strong position the company holds within the platform drilling segment on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

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.

Tananger, 15 November 2001