Canary Wharf Group plc (‘Canary Wharf’) and BP’s Integrated Supply and Trading (IST) Division, announced today that, subject to formal contract, the company has agreed terms with IST for the lease of approximately 128,000 sq ft of space in 20 Canada Square (DS4), a 535,500 sq ft building at Canary Wharf.

The lease agreement is for 101,000 sq ft on a 20-year term with breaks at 10 years and 15 years. In addition, to accommodate future growth, IST has agreed terms to lease a further 27,000 sq ft on a 5-year lease, with rights to extend to run concurrent with the 101,000 sq ft leases.

The recently completed 12-floor glass and steel building was designed by leading architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill. The building offers large floor plates of typically 40,000–45,000 sq ft. Located in a prime position at Canary Wharf on the south east corner of Canada Square Park, it provides underground links to the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway stations as well as direct access to the retail, which extends to over 600,000 sq ft of shops, bars and restaurants.

The building is bordered to the south by the five acre Jubilee Park and the new Clifford Chance, Northern Trust and Lehman Brothers headquarter buildings. To the north it shares its Canada Square location with the world headquarters of HSBC and the European headquarters of Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Bank of America and in the future of Barclays Bank plc (expected to move in during the fourth quarter of 2004). The McGraw-Hill Companies, the global information services provider, will also be occupying some 266,000 sq ft at 20 Canada Square and will be moving in during January 2004.

George Iacobescu, Chief Executive, Canary Wharf Group plc, said:

“Canary Wharf Group is delighted by IST’s decision to take office space at Canary Wharf. The agreement highlights Canary Wharf’s ability to offer the highest quality, best technology and space efficient offices to meet the exacting requirements of a tenant’s individual needs in a highly competitive environment.”