Engage Xr Regulatory News (EXR)

18 Feb 2005 07:02

Expro International Group PLC18 February 2005 Embargoed until 07.00, Friday 18 February 2005 EXPRO INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC Expro Announces New Contracts Awarded Expro International Group PLC ("Expro") today provides an update on contractsawarded since 30 September 2004. In addition to the recently announcedpan-European contract with Shell Exploration and Production Europe, valued at$100 million over 5 years, Expro has won further contracts with a combined valueestimated at $100 million, with contract terms varying from 3 to 5 years. Thisbrings recent contract awards to a total estimated to be in excess of $200million. The awards underpin Expro's confidence in its projections. Expro is structured to deliver its range of technology driven products andservices to the global upstream hydrocarbons industry through a combination ofits functional business units and its geographic regions. This ensures thatExpro closely mirrors the buying characteristics of the industry and remains atthe forefront of these dynamic markets. In the rapidly growing area of deepwater subsea field development, Expro'sSubsurface Systems business unit provides proprietary, niche technologies forthe installation of new subsea wells, and products and services to support thewell during its commercial life. Expro's market leading subsea safety tools haverecently been selected by ChevronTexaco for their Tahiti and Blind Faithprojects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. This $35 million contract is for theprovision of Expro's new electro-hydraulic deepwater safety systems in what isbelieved to be the first high pressure subsea field to be developed in adeepwater environment. The contract has an initial 3 year term with revenuesstarting in late 2005. This material award reinforces the progress made by theSubsurface Systems business. Expro's geographic infrastructure supports both call-out and project work andacts as the main conduit for marketing most of our Cased Hole Services andSurface and Environmental product lines, both of which have secured enhancedlevels of business. In the Europe/FSU region, in addition to the aforementioned Shell Europecontract, other awards from bp and Talisman in the UK North Sea, and Total inthe Netherlands for Cased Hole Services, have totalled $25 million. Whilst themajority of these awards are for the continuation of existing contracts, theyunderpin Expro's market position for the next 3 to 5 years and offer thepotential for increased activity and opportunities to sell new products andservices. The region has also added several Surface and Environmental contractstotalling $15 million in the period, including Marathon in Norway, KPO inKazakhstan, and Venture in the UK North Sea. The Africa/Asia business, now managed out of Dubai, has also been successful insecuring business for both Cased Hole and Surface and Environmental Services. Intotal, the region has secured $25 million of new contract wins, with the mostnotable being with Woodside for their field development offshore Mauritania andwith CNR for their Espoir project, offshore Cote D'Ivoire. Graeme Coutts, Expro's Chief Executive Officer commented: "Expro has placedincreasing emphasis on client engagement over the past year. The result of thisfocus has been a significant improvement in converting enquiries into firmcontracts. Despite the difficulties created by the weakness of the U.S. dollar,I am delighted with the overall progress that we continue to make." - Ends - For further information please contact: Expro International Group PLCGraeme Coutts, Chief Executive On Friday 18 February 2005: 01224 225 753Colin Ainger, Executive Director 0118 9591 341 Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Mike Kirk / Rachel Taylor / Stephanie Badjonat Note to Editors: Expro International Group PLC ("Expro Group", "Expro" or "the Group") is aleading upstream oil and gas technology and service provider, specialising inwell performance and production optimisation. Its products and services arepackaged into three distinct business segments: Cased Hole Services, SubsurfaceSystems, and Surface and Environmental Systems. The Expro Group employs over2,000 people worldwide and is an innovative leader in oilfield technology whichenables clients to maximise recovery of their reserves. For more information,please refer to the Group's website at www.exprogroup.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange