SBM Offshore, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line buy stake in JV companies incorporated for the purpose of owning and operating FPSO Turritella
SBM Offshore is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) for the acquisition of a stake in the joint venture companies incorporated for the purpose of owning and operating FPSO Turritella, the company said in its press release.
Mitsubishi Corporation (30% interest) and NYK Line (15% interest) have acquired a 45% combined stake in the joint venture companies. SBM Offshore, MC and NYK Line are also partners in other joint venture companies incorporated for the purpose of owning and operating FPSOs such as Cidade de Maricá and Cidade de Saquarema. Today’s announcement further cements this long standing cooperation.
The partners’ cash contribution to the Turritella joint venture companies is expected to total approximately US$590 million with the first milestone payment of US$446 million received today. Future milestone payments will follow the stages of completion of the project.
The divestment proceeds have been anticipated in the Company’s 2015 Proportional Net Debt guidance of below US$3.5 billion. FPSO Turritella is currently under construction in Singapore and is expected to be delivered and on-hire in the first half of 2016.
FPSO Turritella Project Overview
On July 22, 2013 SBM Offshore announced that it had signed contracts with Shell Offshore Inc. to supply and lease a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) for the Stones development project in the Gulf of Mexico. The contracts include an initial period of 10 years with future extension options up to a total of 20 years. Start-up of the facility continues to be expected in the first half of 2016.
The Stones development is located in 2,896 meters (9,500 feet) of water approximately 320 kilometres (200 miles) offshore Louisiana in the Walker Ridge area. When installed, Turritella will be the deepest FPSO development in the world.
