23 February, 2004: OSLO, NORWAY - Petroleum Geo-Services ASA ("PGS" or the "Company") (OSE: PGS; OTC: PGEOY) announced today that it expects to release unaudited, preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2003 on Tuesday, 16 March 2004.
The fourth quarter and full year information will be on a Norwegian GAAP basis only. The Company also expects to release certain information related to "fresh start" accounting under US GAAP following the Company's emergence from Chapter 11 proceedings in early November 2003.
The unaudited, preliminary Norwegian GAAP information is being released to satisfy requirements of the Oslo Stock Exchange, which generally require disclosure of preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2003 by the end of February 2004. The Company has contacted the Oslo Stock Exchange regarding obtaining an exemption from such timing requirement, but no assurance can be given that such exemption will be granted. If such exemption is not granted, the Company could incur monetary penalties (maximum of ten times the annual listing fee).
The delay is mainly due to the substantial increase in workload and complexity associated with the financial reporting issues after the exit from Chapter 11 and the re-audit and audit of previous years' US GAAP financial statements.
The Company continues to work on completing an audit of the Company's 2002 financial statements and a re-audit of the Company's 2001 financial statements and on addressing certain previously disclosed material weaknesses in its system of internal controls over financial reporting. The Company is also working on the audit of its financial statements for 2003 (both US and Norwegian GAAP)
As previously announced, there can be no assurance as to whether or when these audits and re-audit can be completed. In addition, as previously disclosed, if and when completed, the audits and re-audit could result in restatements of the Company's previously filed US GAAP audited financial statements and restatements and other adjustments to its 2003 US GAAP financial statements. Those restatements and adjustments could be material, although they are expected to be of a non-cash nature. The Company does not expect to release any US GAAP figures related to periods prior to November 2003 until these audits and re-audit are completed. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that the audits and re-audit, although being conducted for US GAAP purposes, will not have an impact on Norwegian GAAP financial statements.
The Company expects to be able to provide additional information on the status of the audits and re-audit for the 2001 - 2003 period at the time of its release of preliminary results (16 March 2004).
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Petroleum Geo-Services is a technologically focused oilfield service company principally involved in geophysical and floating production services. PGS provides a broad range of seismic- and reservoir services, including acquisition, processing, interpretation, and field evaluation. PGS owns and operates four floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSO's). PGS operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. For more information on Petroleum Geo-Services visit www.pgs.com.
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The information included herein contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are based on various assumptions made by the Company which are beyond its control and certain additional risks and uncertainties as disclosed by the Company in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these factors, actual events may differ materially from those indicated in or implied by such forward-looking statements.