This is news concerning ChevronTexaco but issued by someone other than ChevronTexaco and archived here for record purposes. LONDON, Oct. 30, 2003 -- Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ConocoPhillips, Eni and ChevronTexaco (CVX) today announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement to conduct the front end engineering and design (FEED) work for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility to be constructed in Nigeria's central Niger Delta. The partners have agreed to form an incorporated joint venture, to be known as "Brass LNG Limited," to undertake this project. This agreement follows completion of conceptual studies that assessed the viability of a new onshore LNG facility in the region to be built at the oil Brass Terminal operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC). The FEED will be for two trains, each nominally sized at 5 million metric tons per year. Natural gas supplies for the facility will come from substantial gas reserves within oil and gas fields already operated by existing NAOC and ChevronTexaco joint ventures. "We are extremely pleased to have reached this stage of the Brass LNG project," said Dr. J.E. Gaius-Obaseki, Group Managing Director NNPC. "This will be a world-class LNG facility and an important and strategic opportunity for the co-venturers to reduce gas flaring in Nigeria. Furthermore, it will be an additional opportunity for Nigeria to monetize part of its vast natural gas reserves." The executives representing ConocoPhillips, Eni and ChevronTexaco have jointly announced that their participation in the project enables their respective companies to be important players in helping to meet the growing worldwide demand for clean energy, and strengthens their long-term relationship with NNPC and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The FEED studies are expected to be completed in 2004, and the facility is targeted to be operational at the end of 2008. At the same time, the companies are in the process of developing LNG marketing strategies and plans. The primary market for the first train will be the United States, where average daily sales volumes from this project are estimated to be around 700 million standard cubic feet of natural gas. The Brass LNG Limited joint venture is made up of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian state-owned oil company, and ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips and Eni, all integrated major petroleum companies with interests and ongoing projects around the world. NNPC is an integrated oil and gas corporation engaged in adding value to the nation's hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of Nigerians and other stakeholders. The company has about 13,000 employees and about 57 percent of all exploration and production oil assets and reserves in the upstream joint ventures in Nigeria. ConocoPhillips is an integrated petroleum company with interests around the world. Headquartered in Houston, the company had approximately 55,800 employees, $81 billion of assets and $105 billion of annualized revenues as of June 30, 2003. Eni is an integrated major petroleum company with interests around the world. Headquartered in Italy, the company had approximately 80,000 employees and an equity production in 2003 of about 1.6M BOE/day. Based in San Ramon, California, ChevronTexaco is the second-largest U.S.-based energy company and the fifth largest in the world, based on market capitalization. More than 53,000 ChevronTexaco employees work in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing crude oil and natural gas, and marketing fuels and other energy products. The company is the largest U.S. investor in Sub-Saharan Africa and, together with its partners, plans to invest up to $20 billion in the next five years in Africa-related energy projects.
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This document contains forward-looking statements relating to the company's operations and business plans that are based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections about the company and the petroleum industry. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include without limitation changes in crude oil and natural gas prices; failure to achieve expected reserve or production levels due to operating hazards, drilling risks, and the inherent engineering uncertainties in estimating oil and gas reserves; potential disruption or interruption of the company's facilities and operations due to accidents or political events; and other matters set forth in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.