ORMEN LANGE DRILLING CONTRACT AWARDED TO SMEDVIG
16 March 2004 - Hydro Aluminium

The contract comprises drilling of 8 production wells. Smedvig will start the drilling operations during the second half of 2005, using the drill ship West Navigatior.

Hydro is operator for Ormen Lange during the development phase, including all field development, the onshore gas processing plant at Nyhamna in Mid-Norway, as well as the export pipeline project.The contract was entered into by Norske Shell, which is responsible for the planning and execution of the pre-drilling program. Shell is also the operator for the production phase.

The contract award is conditional on the governmental approval of the Plan for Development and Operation (PDO) and the Plan for Installation and Operation (PIO). Production start of the Ormen Lange field is planned for October 2007.

Ormen Lange is the largest gas field under development on the Norwegian continental shelf. It is located 100 km off the northwest coast of Norway at a water depth of 850 to 1,100 meters.

The partners in Ormen Lange are Hydro (18.0728 %, operator for development phase), Shell (17.0375%, operator for production phase), Petoro (36.4750 %), Statoil (10.8441%), BP (10.3420 %) and ExxonMobil (7.2286 % ).

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