Prosafe Drilling Services AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Prosafe ASA, has received confirmation that Statoil exercises a 1-year option for platform drilling on Gullfaks. The option period lasts from 1 April 2003 to 1 April 2004, and has an estimated value of about NOK 200 million. A further 1-year option period 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 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 2,4 billion in 2001. The company employs approx. 1700 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.prosafe.com.