Petrofac Regulatory News (PFC)

11 Jun 2008 07:00



Press Release

11 June 2008 

PETROFAC LIMITED

NEW DUTY HOLDER CONTRACT FOR PETROFAC IN NORTH SEA

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, announces that it has been awarded the duty holder contract for the Northern Producer floating production facility by the vessel's owner Sea Production Limited. The estimated contract value is in the region of £15 million per annum.

The Northern Producer is currently located in the McNulty Offshore yard in South Shields, Tyne and Wear and is staffed by personnel from Petrofac Facilities Management as work progresses with the upgrade and modification of the facility that will significantly extend the vessel's life. When the upgrades and modifications are complete the Northern Producer will be deployed between the Don Southwest and West Don fields, with first oil expected in the first half of 2009.

Steve Bullock, VP, operations management for Petrofac Facilities Management said: "This contract award extends the long and successful relationship that Petrofac has developed with Sea Production Limited, following Petrofac's ten-year period as duty holder for the Northern Producer on the Galley field. Having successfully taken the vessel through to demobilisation last year, we are particularly pleased to be part of this new chapter in the Northern Producer's history especially as we will be supporting our colleagues in Petrofac Energy Developments, who will be operating the field on behalf of Petrofac and its co-venturers in the Don Area development."

"We believe the award further consolidates our leading position in the provision of facilities management services, where we now have six duty holder contracts covering responsibility for 15 assets in the UKCS and, in addition, our international service operator contract with the Government of Dubai."

Keith Ballantyne, Northern Offshore Representative for Sea Production Limited said: "Sea Production Limited is delighted to extend its long standing relationship with Petrofac Facilities Management."

Ends

For further information contact:

Petrofac Limited +44 (0) 20 7811 4900

Ayman Asfari, Group Chief Executive

Keith Roberts, Chief Financial Officer

Jonathan Low, Head of Investor Relations

Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial +44 (0) 20 7861 3232

Charles Cook

Olly Scott

Notes to Editors

Northern Producer and Don Area development

Petrofac's Energy Developments division has signed an agreement, as operator, on behalf of itself and its co-venturers, with Sea Production Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northern Offshore Limited, for the provision of the Northern Producer floating production facility. The Northern Producer will receive and process production from the Don Southwest and West Don fields in the North Sea.

Both the Don Southwest and West Don Fields form part of the Don Area development and are located in the northern North Sea approximately 150km north east of the Shetland Islands and 12km north of the Thistle field in a water depth of approximately 500ft. The Northern Producer will be utilised for processing fluids from both fields ahead of export. Once in place the oil export from the Northern Producer will take place initially by offshore tanker loading for approximately six months and then switch to pipeline export via a subsea line to Lundin Petroleum's Thistle platform and the Brent pipeline system. 

In 1997 the Northern Producer contract heralded the start of Petrofac's pioneering duty holder status and the Galley field, over which it was deployed, produced and exported almost twice the amount of oil expected. The floating production facility produced nearly 60 million barrels of oil and maintained an average oil production uptime performance above 98%. Petrofac's innovative duty holder model revolutionised the way the industry - both nationally and internationally - manages offshore & onshore facilities.

The Northern Producer has a capacity of 55,000 barrels of oil per day and associated gas, water injection and export processing facilities.

Petrofac

Petrofac is a leading international provider of facilities solutions to the oil & gas production and processing industry, with a diverse customer portfolio including many of the world's leading integrated, independent and national oil & gas companies. Petrofac is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PFC) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. 

Through its three divisions, Engineering & Construction, Operations Services and Energy Developements, Petrofac designs and builds oil & gas facilities; operates, maintains or manages facilities and trains personnel; and, where return criteria are met and service revenue synergies identified, co-invests with clients and partners. Petrofac's range of services allows it to help meet its customers' needs across the life cycle of oil & gas assets.

With more than 9,500 employees, Petrofac operates out of four strategically located international centres, in Aberdeen, Sharjah, Woking and Mumbai and a further 20 offices worldwide. The predominant focus of Petrofac's business is on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Asia Pacific region.