Topaz wins USD 210 million BP contract

Subsidiary BUE Caspian to provide British Petroleum with three offshore supply vessels to support oil major's Caspian operations

The contracts are for firm periods ranging from 3 to 7 years, with extension options for a further three years. The initial investment of over USD 65 million in vessel construction brings to a total ten new build vessels mobilised to Azerbaijan within a five year period. The potential contract value is estimated to be in excess of USD 210 million assuming that all of the contract options are exercised.

Roy Donaldson, General Manager, BUE Caspian, stated, "This is the second major tender that the Alliance has been awarded by BP Azerbaijan in the past two years. This clearly demonstrates their confidence in our capabilities within a very competitive market where, quality, health and safety performance is paramount".

Under the terms of the agreement BUE Caspian will supply two Norwegian Built Ulstein UT755L Platform Supply Vessels and one Fast Crew Boat presently under construction by Damen in Holland. The first UT755L named Caspian Pride will enter service in October 2007 with both other new build vessels arriving in Baku, Azerbaijan during 2008.

Currently operating under an alliance agreement with KMNF, itself a subsidiary of the Azerbaijan State Oil Company, SOCAR, BUE Caspian currently has 15 offshore support vessels chartered by AIOC and operating out of Baku, Azerbaijan. The three new vessels will complement the existing offshore support fleet with supply and services to the newly constructed East Azeri, West Azeri and Deepwater Guneshli installations.

"This reinforces BUE Caspian's commitment to maintain its position as the prime offshore fleet operator in the South Caspian Sea," added Donaldson.

The combined Topaz-BUE fleet, now ranks amongst the largest offshore fleets in the Middle East region with operations in the Caspian, Middle East and Southeast Asian markets.

BUE Caspian is a wholly owned subsidiary of Topaz Energy and Marine Ltd. one of the U.A.E.'s leading oil & gas service companies.