Maurel & Prom: BRIEFING ON THE SITUATION IN GABON

Paris, 28 February 2017
 No. 06-17

BRIEFING ON THE SITUATION IN GABON

The ONEP (Petroleum Trade Union) filed a strike notice on 15 February 2017. M&P Gabon (hereinafter the "Company") management initiated negotiations with the Petroleum Trade Union on 20 February 2017 in the presence of the Ministry of Labor authorities.

In this strike notice, the ONEP asked for:

1. Maintaining at their job the employees who participated in the ONEP strike in October 2016: during these negotiations, the ONEP withdrew this point which was completely unfounded.
2. "A separation compensation", following the sale of M & P's assets, of 6 months of gross salary per year of service:

As regard to a change of M & P shareholding, any reference to compensation of any kind for the "sale of the Company's assets" has been excluded by the Company's management. However, Company's management as part of negotiations has left open the possibility, on a voluntary basis expression, to the payment of a premium.

3. The retroactive payment of amounts owed to workers: it was acknowledged, in a legally enforceable statement signed at the end of 2016, that the amounts in question had been paid in due time.
4. The setting of a calendar for the renewal of the staff representatives: The Company's management wants to proceed as quickly as possible to the designation of new staff representatives, those in place having been revoked once ONEP withdrew their Trade Union mandate. The principle of a common calendar was approved.
5. The implementation of the company collective agreements: these agreements are in place but it has been agreed, by the end of 2016, that at the initiative of the staff representatives and the Petroleum Trade Union, they could be subject to arrangement proposals which, to date, have not been communicated to the Company.
    
6. The presentation of the work permits for all foreign workers, the cessation of activity of those who are in an irregular situation, and even in some cases for some of them who are in a regular situation, and their replacement by Gabonese workers: these questions are of the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour who ensure their monitoring and control, the Petroleum Trade Union not being a substitute for the country authorities.

While the negotiations were ongoing, the ONEP filed a strike notice for Wednesday, 22 February 2017 at 1 p.m.

As a result of this strike notice, operations on all Company's sites have been affected. Ezanga permit production was brutally interrupted outside any procedure on 22 February 2017 at 2:30 pm, which is particularly critical given the nature of the produced oil. Backup procedures for alternate flows in the pipeline to keep the oil movable could not be implemented.

The representative of the Gabonese Government sent a detachment of security forces who actually found on the work sites that the control room production was held by the strikers, which prevented access to non-striking staff.

In order to ensure the safety of the Company's employees, the Gabonese government's infrastructure operated by the Company, and production continuity, the security forces expelled the strikers.

Production was able to be restarted to a very partial degree beginning on 24 February 2017 and it stands to date at around 3,000 bopd.

Due to the strike breaking out while the negotiations were ongoing and the acts of some strikers, the Company filed an urgent order before the Court of Port Gentil, which made its decision on Saturday, 25 February 2017 by declaring the strike unlawful and ordering its immediate ending.

The notification of this decision to the ONEP was made late morning on 27 February 2017.

ONEP summoned staff general meetings of all petroleum sites, all companies together, on 27 and 28 February 2017 for the submission of a general strike notice.

The presence of a majority shareholder, PT Pertamina Internasional Eksplorasi dan Produksi (PIEP), in the capital provides a real long-term perspective for the Group's activities and its employees. Also, Maurel & Prom, who had until now favored dialogue and the protection of employment in a particularly hard market context and providing a concrete response in terms of the sustainability of employment, is questioning the underlying reasons pertaining to these unfounded claims paving the way for the conflict to spread.

For more information, go to www.maureletprom.fr
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This document may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial position, results, business and industrial strategy of Maurel & Prom. By nature, forward-looking statements contain risks and uncertainties to the extent that they are based on events or circumstances that may or may not happen in the future. These projections are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which may prove to be incorrect and which depend on a number of risk factors, such as fluctuations in crude oil prices, changes in exchange rates, uncertainties related to the valuation of our oil reserves, actual rates of oil production and the related costs, operational problems, political stability, legislative or regulatory reforms, or even wars, terrorism and sabotage.

Maurel & Prom is listed for trading on Euronext Paris
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