Contract Award for the Shah Deniz Field Stage 1 Development in the Caspian Sea.

Business Editors

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 7, 2003

BP and its Shah Deniz partners have awarded Technip-Coflexip (NYSE: TKP and Euronext FR0000131708) a contract worth about US $300 million for the stage 1 development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. This contract includes the design, engineering, procurement, assembly, installation, hook-up and project management assistance for a TPG 500 drilling and production platform. The FEED and detailed engineering started several months ago and are close to completion.

Within the framework of this project, the engineering center of Technip-Coflexip in Paris is to handle the design and engineering, based on its self-installing fixed platform proprietary concept TPG 500, the supply of proprietary equipment, as well as procurement and project management services. Technip-Coflexip's affiliate in Azerbaijan will be responsible for in-country fabrication activities including transport and assembly: integration of all hull components, living quarters, drilling equipment and legs. These fabrication activities will be conducted at the Group's yard at Zykh near Baku. Technip-Coflexip is also in charge of hook-up and commissioning assistance.

The 35,000-ton operating weight of the Shah Deniz TPG 500 platform, that forms the centrepiece of this development, will be installed at a water depth of 105 meters and will produce up to 900 million SCFD of gas and 58,300 Bpd of condensate. It is due on stream in the third quarter of 2006.

Partners in Shah Deniz are: BP (25.5%) as operator, Statoil (25.5%), Socar (10%), LukAgip (10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).

For Technip-Coflexip, this contract award represents a major breakthrough on the promising market of the Caspian Sea as well as a new success for its proprietary TPG 500 platform, two of which having already been installed in the North Sea, one on the Harding field for BP and the second on the Elgin/Franklin fields for Total. It also demonstrates that the TPG 500 concept is not only perfectly suited to developments in the North Sea's shallow waters, but also in remote areas such as the Caspian Sea.

With a workforce of about 19,000 persons, Technip-Coflexip ranks among the top five corporations in the field of oil, gas and petrochemical engineering, construction and services. Headquartered in Paris, the Group is listed in New York (NYSE: TKP) and in Paris (Euronext: FR0000131708). The main engineering and business centers of Technip-Coflexip are located in France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the United States, Brazil, Abu-Dhabi, China, India, Malaysia and Australia. The Group has high-quality industrial and construction facilities in France, Brazil, the UK, the USA, and Finland as well as a world-class fleet of offshore construction vessels.

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