There were few surprises in the delayed awards bar the choice of Stolt Comex ahead of Coflexip Stena for subsea systems. Seven months have passed since the joint venture between Bouygues and compatriot ETPM was first identified as the unofficial winner of the large and prestigious field development contract. Now it is official. Girassol, lying in 1350 metres of water in prolific Angolan block 17, is estimated to hold more than 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, 700 million of which are to be recovered in this, the first phase of development.