Singapore’s Nexus Floating Production (NFP) has signed a US $800m Letter of Intent (LoI) with Burgundy Global Exploration Corp (BGEC) for the lease of the FPSO Nexus#1 for operation on the Camago Malampaya Oil Leg (CMOL) offshore the Philippines.

The contract is for a period of seven years, with first oil scheduled for the first quarter of 2010. The agreement has a value of approximately US $800m for a managed lease of the Nexus#1 generic FPSO over the seven-year contract period. Field specific adaptations of the generic unit will be compensated separately, said NFP.

“We are pleased to sign a Letter of Intent with BGEC for the CMOL project, a challenging field development in deepwater in an area subject to typhoon activity. This confirms our expectations for a stronger market in deepwaters, and we are happy to be in a position to support such developments with our FPSOs,” said Anders Holm, CEO of NFP.

The CMOL project will develop the oil rim in the Malampaya field, which is located 70km offshore Palawan Island at a water depth of 2,788ft (850m).

The CMOL project is operated by BGEC with an 84.9% stake, while state-owned Philippines National Oil Co-Exploration Corp has the remaining 15.1%.

The LoI grants BGEC a first right of refusal which enables Nexus to continue promoting the Nexus#1 vessel in the market.