17th Apr 2007 07:01
Afren PLC17 April 2007 Afren plc (AIM: AFR) Production Vessel for Okoro Setu Project London, 17 April 2007 - Afren plc ("Afren" or "the Company") and its partnerAmni International Petroleum Development Company ("AMNI") announce the signatureof a contract for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) forthe Okoro Setu Project, offshore Nigeria. The Boards of Afren and AMNI are pleased to announce the signature of a contractfor an FPSO vessel, the Armada Perkasa, which is the final milestone in ensuringthe Company is positioned to commence production from the Okoro Setu Project inearly 2008. The Armada Perkasa is owned and operated by Bumi Armada Berhad, a major FPSOmarine operator that is part of the Usaha Tegas group, one of the largestinvestment groups in Malaysia. The vessel storage capacity is 360,000 barrelswith a processing capacity of 27,000 barrels per day. The vessel will be leasedto the Okoro Setu project over a fixed 5 year period. The unit will process thetotal well fluids, producing stabilised crude for storage in the FPSO, withsubsequent regular off-take by tanker. Following the successful appraisal drilling programme, completed in December2006, Afren has put in place the drilling capability, financing structure,development plan and now the production capacity for the Okoro Setu Project, inorder to achieve its production target of 15,000 - 20,000 barrels per day inearly 2008: • Fully underwritten US$200 million debt facility • Government approval for the Field Development Plan • FPSO contract secured • Development drilling scheduled to commence in Q3 2007 with the Global Santa Fe Adriatic VI drilling unit contracted for a nine month programme Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren, commented: "It is testament to the strength of Afren's management and technical team, andits close working relationship with AMNI, its indigenous partner, that in lessthan a year since agreeing its involvement in the project the Company is nowfully prepared and well positioned to commence production from the Okoro SetuProject in early 2008. "This announcement represents the final in a series of operational milestonesAfren has set out to achieve in recent months. We now look forward to continuedprogress on our new ventures pipeline and starting development drilling in Q32007." 17 April 2007 Enquiries: Afren plc +44 20 7182 1800Osman Shahenshah Chief ExecutiveEvert Jan Mulder Chief Operating OfficerGalib Virani Investor Relations Jefferies International Limited +44 20 7618 3500Toby HaywardJack Pryde Tristone Capital Limited +44 20 7399 2480Simon Ashby-RuddMajid Shafiq Pelham Public Relations +44 20 7743 6673James HendersonAlisdair Haythornthwaite Background information Afren (www.afren.com) was founded in December 2004 by a management teamincluding Dr Rilwanu Lukman, (Chairman), Osman Shahenshah, (Chief Executive) andBert Cooper (Advisor to the Board), with the vision to become the premier panAfrican independent Exploration and Production company. Since its listing onthe AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Afren has rapidly expanded itsportfolio and the management team has delivered nine assets in the JointDevelopment Zone of Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola andCongo Brazzaville. Afren will continue to add to its diversified portfolio of near term developmentand high impact exploration, with the overall objective of creating substantialshareholder value. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AFR.L