STAVANGER, Norway, Oct. 8, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Smedvig (NYSE:SMVa) (NYSE:SMVb) and Crest Petroleum joint venture Varia Perdana has today entered into agreements to acquire the self-erecting tender rigs T-9 and Teknik Berkat. The total consideration for these two units is US$ 95 million. Smedvig has a 49 percent ownership share in Varia Perdana, which owns the tender rigs T-2, T-3 and T-6.
T-9 is currently under construction for Smedvig in Malaysia. The delivery of this unit is scheduled for the first quarter 2004 at which point Varia Perdana will take over ownership of the unit. The agreed purchase price is US$ 70 million.
Teknik Berkat was completed in 1991 and is owned by Crest Petroleum, Smedvig's joint venture partner. The agreed purchase price for the unit is US$ 25 million.
"This provides for a consolidation of the tender rig activities in Malaysia and forms a platform for further growth," said CEO Kjell E Jacobsen in Smedvig asa.
Analyst Contact: Jim Datland, Investor Relations Manager +47 51 50 99 19 Media Contact: Alf C Thorkildsen, Chief Financial Officer +47 51 50 99 19
Smedvig asa is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. The company provides drilling and well services in the North Atlantic and Southeast Asia. Smedvig's main activities are divided into mobile units, tender rigs and platform drilling. Smedvig has a fleet of three modern drilling rigs, one drillship and nine tender rigs and has one tender rig under construction. The company holds contracts for production drilling, well services and maintenance on fixed installations.
This news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect current views with respect to future events and are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties, because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Many factors could influence actual developments and performance and could cause them differ materially from those described by these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of these factors please see "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year 2002 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our website at www.smedvig.no.
Smedvig asa P.O. Box 110, 4001 Stavanger Phone: +47 51 50 99 00 Fax: +47 51 50 96 88 Web site: www.smedvig.no E-mail: smedvig@smedvig.no