HOUSTON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Willbros Group, Inc. confirmed that its pipelay vessel WB 318 was subject to a hostage-taking incident while working on an oil project of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd in offshore waters near Forcados, Nigeria. The Company confirmed that nine persons were taken hostage: three U.S., one British, two Egyptian, two Thai and one Filipino national. Willbros noted that it has not, at this time, been contacted by the group which has claimed responsibility. The Company has a crisis management team working closely with the appropriate parties and authorities to seek an early and safe resolution of the situation.
Willbros Group, Inc. is an independent contractor serving the oil, gas and power industries, providing engineering and construction, and facilities development and operations services to industry and government entities worldwide. For more information on Willbros, please visit our web site at http://www.willbros.com/.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address activities, events or developments the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including such things as the potential for additional investigations, fines and penalties by government agencies, the financial impact of internal investigations, litigation that may arise from the investigations, the outcome of potential SEC and Department of Justice investigations, including review and restatement of the Company's previously announced or filed financial results and the costs and expenses associated therewith; the identification of one or more other issues that require restatement of one or more prior period financial statements; the completion and audit of Willbros' 2005 financial statements; the communication by Willbros' management and independent auditors of the existence of material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting; availability of quality management, availability and terms of capital; changes in, or the failure to comply with, government regulations; ability to remain in compliance with, or obtain waivers under, the Company's loan agreements and indentures; the promulgation, application, and interpretation of environmental laws and regulations; future E&P capital expenditures, oil, gas, gas liquids and power prices and demand, the amount and location of planned pipelines, the effective tax rate of the different countries where the work is being conducted, development trends of the oil, gas and power industries, changes in the political and economic environment of the countries in which the Company has operations, as well as other risk factors described from time to time in the Company's documents and reports filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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FCMN Contact: ksdennard@drg-e.com
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