Murphy, Prosafe confirm first FDPSO contract

Offshore staff

LARNACA, Cyprus -- Murphy West Africa Ltd. has contracted Prosafe to convert a FPSO to a floating drilling, production, storage, and offloading unit ("FDPSO") and to operate on the deepwater Azurite development in the Mer Profonde Sud block offshore the Republic of the Congo.

The contract will begin in 1Q 2009 and has a firm period of seven years followed by four 2-year options with an estimated contract value of $400 million.

Prosafe says that the FDPSO technology is a cost-efficient solution for drilling and producing deepwater fields and will be the first time an FPSO is developed to include a mobile drilling rig.

The company will utilize theVLCC MT Europe and after conversion the vessel will have a storage capacity of 1.4 MMbbl of oil and a process capacity of 60,000 b/d of total fluids which includes 40,000 b/d of oil. The vessel will be spread-moored at a water depth of 1,400 m (4,593 ft).

11/9/2007