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TWST: Can we start with a brief overview of Prosafe (Oslo:PRS.OL) including the history, products and the core markets?

Mr. Austreid: Prosafe is a spin off of Transocean, which since 1972 had been a substantial drilling contractor in Europe. In 1987, Transocean merged with Sonat and the combined company took the name Transocean, moved its headquarters to Houston and listed the company on the New York Stock Exchange. They were not, however, interested in platform drilling, so platform drilling was spun off in the spring of 1997 and Prosafe was established and listed in Norway. The company, at that time called Procon Offshore, established the strategy to focus on niche areas where the company could become market leader, be really profitable and have real market power. Firstly, we decided to enter into offshore support services, which is semi-submersible accommodation and service rigs. We developed and consolidated that niche more or less completely on a worldwide basis. That made us quite profitable and gave us a robust cash flow, which allowed us to look for further opportunities to expand. We wanted to find yet another business area where we could again be profitable and which would take the company forward. We found floating production very interesting and fitting into our strategy, and that’s why we expanded into that business area last year through the acquisition of Nortrans Offshore Ltd., a company based in Singapore, but listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange. Floating production has become our third business area, in addition to the platform drilling and the offshore support services.

TWST: Can you elaborate on the floating production business? What are the dynamics and opportunities in this area?

Mr. Austreid: The floating production business as we see it is one of the fastest growing offshore segments in the world today. The major part of the new field development projects in West-Africa, Southeast Asia and Brazil are being developed by floating production units, and we view the opportunity to become a market leader in those geographical areas.

TWST: Which geographic markets are you currently operating in?

Mr. Austreid: We are the leading player on the Norwegian Continental Shelf within platform drilling. When it comes to offshore support services, we are operating accommodation and service rigs in the North Sea, both in the Norwegian and the British sector, and we are also heavily involved in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently, we have entered into a new geographical area by winning a contract for Phillips Petroleum in Australia, more specifically in the East Timor Sea, which we will start next year. We have floating production vessels in Southeast Asia and offshore Africa.

TWST: What would you underline as your key advantages vis-à-vis your peers?

Mr. Austreid: Our key strength is the niche focus. We have been able to have a specific focus on each of these areas. When it comes to drilling, we only focus on drilling from fixed installations. Being the largest player on the Norwegian Continental Shelf gives us volume, which brings some economies of scale. In addition, we have a good and very competent workforce consisting of about 1300 employees. Drilling services is a people intensive business with very low capital employed. Within offshore support services, the niche thinking has helped us to secure a market leader role. We have the best assets and that is a key strength in itself, giving us a very solid position. In floating production the key strength I would say is our workforce, our ability and the speed in which we can deliver on projects, and also the technology we have in-house. Our own people develop the turret and swivel systems and that certainly is a key strength in the FPSO conversion business.