HOUSTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE:OII) announced that Oceaneering Multiflex has been awarded a contract with a value in excess of $11 million by Santos Ltd (NASDAQ:STOSY) to provide thermoplastic umbilical for the Exeter and Mutineer fields offshore Western Australia. The development of these fields will be Santos' first offshore project as an operator.

The order is for six lengths of thermoplastic umbilical, totaling over 34 kilometers or 21 miles, to be delivered in the third quarter of 2004. The development concept for the Exeter and Mutineer fields is to have three lengths of umbilical for each field to be connected to an innovative combination of up to 14 down hole and mudline pumps.

The umbilicals will provide the individual power supply to each of the pumps in addition to the fluid, chemical, and low power signal electrical services to the pumps and wells. Innovative umbilical design and manufacturing techniques are being used to ensure complete integrity in the particularly demanding seas.

John Huff, Chairman and CEO, stated, "The order from Santos highlights what has been an encouraging fourth quarter of new orders for Multiflex, increasing the backlog for our Subsea Products business from $17 million at the end of the third quarter to an estimated $35 to 40 million at year end.

We feel confident that this upward trend in backlog for this business segment will continue throughout 2004. Furthermore, we anticipate the revenue and profit contribution from our product sales will increase substantially next year and be a major contributor to a growth in Oceaneering earnings."