Wood finds more work at Equinor’s largest field outside Norway

UK-headquartered Wood has tucked a contract extension under its belt to deliver maintenance and modification solutions to assets located at a field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is said to be Equinor’s largest operated field outside Norway.

The two-year contract extension, which builds on the long-standing relationship with Norway’s Equinor, is worth $80 million. The deal will enable Wood to continue providing maintenance and modification solutions to the Norwegian energy giant’s Peregrino offshore assets to optimize the field’s wellhead platforms and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, delivering engineering, prefabrication and outfitting, offshore installation, commissioning, and turnaround (TAR) support.

Shawn Combden, Wood’s President of Operations, Americas, commented: “This extension reaffirms our client’s confidence in our ability to consistently meet and exceed expectations in brownfield engineering project delivery. The maintenance and upgrade modifications delivered by our team will extend the life of these assets, critical to energy security.”

According to Wood, the reimbursable contract is supported by 500 employees and the team will be based on an offshore flotel during the next maintenance campaign, which is scheduled to start in May 2024, to increase productivity levels.

Hugues Corrignan, Wood’s Country Manager for Brazil, remarked: “Our eight-year relationship with Equinor in Brazil is built on a well-established track record of asset knowledge and mutual trust. Our commitment to excellence, relentless focus on safe operations and unwavering dedication to understanding our client’s evolving needs have been critical to securing this win.”

Located in two licenses, BM-C-7 and BM-C-47, approximately 85 km offshore Brazil, the Peregrino oil field, which started production in 2011, is operated by Equinor with a 60% interest, while its partner, Sinochem, holds the remaining 40% stake. Recently, SLB and Equinor drilled a well section on the field, which is said to be the most autonomous one to date.

As part of Peregrino’s Phase II development, Equinor installed a third fixed platform, Peregrino C, which began operating in the field in October 2023, following the start-up of the gas import project with natural gas being delivered through Petrobras’ Rota 2 gas pipeline. The move came after the restart of production at the Peregrino field in the Campos Basin.

This extension comes weeks after BP hired Wood for topside modifications in support of the oil major’s latest subsea tie-back in the North Sea. Prior to this, the UK player secured a deal with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for detailed engineering of the topsides facilities on a floating production unit (FPU).

This FPU is destined for Woodside’s deepwater oil project in the Perdido basin in the Gulf of Mexico, located 30 km south of the Mexico-U.S. maritime border.