The Dhirubhai-1 project was funded through a combination of equity, parent company support and one of the largest syndicated loans for an FPSO project. The Financial crisis and related impacts has created a need for wider participation and more creative solutions for financing larger FPSO projects going forward. Export credit agencies, customers, key suppliers as well as traditional financiers play a vital role in new project ventures for which Aker Floating is confident in being able to deliver.

The long-term demand for oil is universally predicted to grow. Coupled with the natural decline in existing oil fields, the need for floating production systems will therefore continue.

We see also the beginning of a recovery in the financial markets that contributed to hampering the short-term demand in 2009. In completing Dhirubhai-1 Aker Floating Production has proved itself as a major-league FPSO provider, and is positioned to cater for the needs of larger independent and major oil companies. Active bids and pre-qualifications carried out during 2009 have also shown this to be the case. The Smart FPSO concept has shown to be an attractive concept for several growing offshore areas in the world, where India is one of these. As a pioneer FPSO operator in India, the company will maintain its active focus in this market in order to participate in the future growth in this area.