OREANDA-NEWS. July 15, 2011. ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter Ў°ITOCHUЎ±) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Yasumi Kudo, President; hereinafter Ў°NYK LineЎ±) are pleased to announce that an international joint venture (JV) of companies to own and operate a Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading system (FPSO*1) together with SBM Offshore N.V. (SBM; Netherlands) and Queiroz Galvao Oleo e Gas S.A (QGOG; Brazil) has been established and that the contracts for the twenty year charter and operation of the FPSO for the development of the Lula Nordeste field*2 in the pre-salt area*3, offshore Brazil, have been executed with the BM-S-11 consortium (65% Petrobras SA ЁC Operator, 25% BG Group (BG E&P Brasil Ltda), and 10% GALP Energia (Petrogal Brasil Ltda)). NYK Line has since become officially involved in the operation of the FPSO by dispatching staff to the FPSO as well as to an operational office ashore.

A secondhand very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) is currently being converted into the FPSO by SBM and shall be named the FPSO Cidade de Paraty and be deployed in the Lula Nordeste field. Currently, the hull and marine systems of the VLCC have been upgraded in Singapore, and after such upgrades, the topsides modules will be lifted and integrated on the FPSO in Brazil. It will start oil production in the Lula Nordeste field in the second quarter of 2013.

NYK Line and ITOCHU are also pleased to announce that together with its JV partners SBM and QGOG,ЎЎa Limited Recourse Project Loan has been secured for USD 1 Billion to finance the construction of the FPSO from a syndicate of banks comprising 12 Japanese and International Commercial Banks.

NYK Line and ITOCHU try to expand and develop the business in the offshore oil and gas industry, especially in Brazil where remarkable growth is expected through the participation in this FPSOЎЎproject.