A Letter of Agreement (LOA) has been signed with Noble Energy EG Ltd., a subsidiary of leading USbased independent energy company Noble Energy Inc. (Noble Energy, for the provision, lease and operation of an FPSO for the development of the Aseng field located in approximately 1,000 meters of water in Block I, offshore Equatorial Guinea.

The FPSO, which will be based on the conversion of a VLCC hull from SBM Offshore’s inventory, will serve not only the Aseng field, but also establish a liquids hub for Noble’s future developments in the area with capacity for 120,000 barrels of liquids per day, including processing of 80,000 barrels of oil and injection of up to 150,000 barrels per day of water, as well as handling 170 million standard cubic feet per day of gas.
The unit will have storage capacity for 1.6 million barrels of oil including up to 500,000 barrels of condensate.

It is the intention of SBM Offshore to execute the contract through a Joint Venture established with Guinea Ecuatorial De Petróleos (GEPetrol), the National Oil Company of Equatorial Guinea. Beyond Aseng, this partnership will work to promote Equatorial Guinean local content in oil and gas activities and further enhance the development of the country’s oil and gas industry.

The Aseng FPSO will be SBM Offshore’s second operated unit in Equatorial Guinea and its ninth operated facility offshore West Africa.

The initial firm commitment of Noble Energy under the contract is for a period of fifteen years, commencing in late 2011, with provisions for further extensions up to five years.

The total undiscounted cumulative Portfolio Value to SBM Offshore of the above order is approximately US$ 1.2 billion, with the lease contract expected to qualify as a finance lease for financial reporting purposes.