THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Italy's Saipem Wins Two Contracts For EUR220 Mln (ShellNews.net)

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

August 24, 2004 5:01 a.m.

MILAN -- Italian oil exploration company Saipem SpA (SPM.MI) said Tuesday that it has been awarded two lump sum turkey contracts worth around EUR220 million.

Both contracts involve work to be completed in the second half of 2006, the company said.

Saipem said it had been awarded a contract worth more than EUR100 million from BBL Company to install a pipeline to transport natural gas from the Netherlands to England.

The second contract, awarded by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., amounts to around EUR120 million and entails engineering, procurement and construction of additional facilities at the LNG Gas Supply Plant located near the town of Soku, Saipem said.

At 0853 GMT, Saipem shares are up 1.1% or EUR0.09 at EUR8.57.

In a conference call after the company's second-quarter results, Saipem's management expressed confidence in a strong run of contract awards in the second half of 2004.

-By Christopher Emsden, Dow Jones Newswires; +39-02-58-21-99-05; chris.emsden@dowjones.com