Murphy Oil Announces First Production at Azurite Field Offshore Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)

EL DORADO, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) announced that initial oil production has commenced at its Azurite field in the Mer Profonde Sud (MPS) block, in territorial water (Atlantic Ocean) of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). Azurite, initially discovered in 2005, marks the Company’s first operated development in the West Africa region.

“The Azurite project marks an innovative approach to minimizing the cost and maximizing the value of a deepwater development. Production from the field will continue to ramp up for the remainder of the year as additional wells are brought on stream.”

The Azurite development is located in about 4,500 feet of water and utilizes the industry’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility with drilling capability (FDPSO). The FDPSO has storage capacity of 1.3 million barrels of oil and the capability to process 40,000 barrels of oil per day and is being used for drilling and completing the production and injection wells.

Murphy Oil Corporation’s President and Chief Executive Officer, David M. Wood, said, “The Azurite project marks an innovative approach to minimizing the cost and maximizing the value of a deepwater development. Production from the field will continue to ramp up for the remainder of the year as additional wells are brought on stream.”

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which express management’s current views concerning future events or results, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the volatility and level of crude oil and natural gas prices, the level and success rate of our exploration programs, our ability to maintain production rates and replace reserves, political and regulatory instability, and uncontrollable natural hazards. For further discussion of risk factors, see Murphy’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Murphy undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.