Girassol: ELF Awards Turnkey Contracts For The FPSO And The Flowlines Bouygues Offshore Share, $485 MILLION.

MONTIGNY-le-BRETONNEUX, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998-- Bouygues Offshore S.A. (NYSE : BWG) today announced the award by Elf Exploration Angola of two contracts for the development of the Girassol field in Angola for a total amount of approximately $1 110 million, Bouygues Offshore share : $485 million.

Girassol is located by 4,430ft (1350m) of water in Block 17 offshore Angola.

On this block under a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) Sonangol is concessionary and Elf Exploration Angola, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine, is the operator of Block 17 for the following association:

-- Elf Exploration Angola (operator) 35,00% -- Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Ltd 20,00% -- BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd 16,67% -- Den Norske Stats Oljeseskap a.s.(Statoil) 13,33% -- Norsk Hydro ASA 10,00% -- Fina Exploration MBV 5,00%

The first turn-key contract, amounting to approximately $700 million, Bouygues Offshore's share $350 million, was awarded to "Mar Profundo Girassol" a 50/50 joint venture between Bouygues Offshore S.A. and ETPM S.A. for the supply of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading barge and offloading buoy required for the development of the Girassol field. The Girassol FPSO will have a storage capacity of 2,000,000 barrels and a production capacity of 200,000 barrels per day. Bouygues Offshore is the leader of the joint venture.

Mar Profundo Girassol will handle the design, engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the FPSO and the offloading buoy. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd (HHI) will build the steel hull in Korea. The topsides will be built as an innovative concept of "integrated deck" in Fos-sur-Mer, France, this deck then being loaded onto the hull. Tow out to final destination and installation of the FPSO and the buoy will take place in the second half of the year 2000.

The second turn-key contract, amounting to approximately $410 million, Bouygues Offshore's share $135 million, was awarded to "Alto Mar Girassol" a joint venture between Bouygues Offshore S.A., ETPM S.A. and Stolt Comex Seaway S.A., each company holding one third, for the supply of the flowlines, umbilicals and risers.

Alto Mar Girassol will handle the design, engineering, fabrication and installation of the flowlines, umbilicals and risers, installation of production manifolds and tie-in of subsea wells. For this development, Alto Mar Girassol proposed a novel concept of three towers housing all the risers. The base of the risers will be connected to the subsea production system using flowlines bundles, and the top will be connected to the FPSO with standard flexible risers. The flowlines bundles will be fabricated in Soyo, Angola and the towers in Lobito, Angola. Installation on the field will take place in two separate phases, first at the time of the FPSO's installation, during the second half of year 2000, the second phase of the development being scheduled for the year 2002.

"The awarding of these two contracts constitutes a significant milestone in Bouygues Offshore's position in the deep offshore market. These contracts establish our entry into deep water subsea development, as well as validate our leadership position in the FPSO market for which we have received $500 million of new orders since the beginning of 1998" said Herv Le Bouc, Chief Executive Officer. Bouygues Offshore S.A. is a leading international contractor serving the oil and gas industry, specializing in providing integrated solutions for the design, construction, installation and management of offshore and onshore oil and gas production- related turnkey projects. The Company also provides maintenance services to the oil production industry, engages in high-end maritime and river-related civil works projects and designs and constructs liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals as well as storage tanks.

CONTACT: Mireille Arvier

Phone number:33 1 30 60 75 06

33 1 30 60 89 09

or

Lynn Morgen

Press: Terry Rooney-Brian Maddox

Morgen-Walke Associates, Inc.

Phone number: 1 212 850 5600