Brazilian oil and gas major Petrobras has signed an agreement with oil and gas industry equipment provider Weatherford for the provision of 2,250 pump units to be used for onshore production in northeastern Brazil and in the state of Espirito Santos.
According to the company, this agreement is important as three years ago, Weatherford announced it was going to close the only plant that produced this type of equipment in Brazil, located in Rio de Janeiro.
Petrobras said that the plant was not getting enough orders to justify making investments to build a new unit. The company intended to supply Petrobras with production from plants it has in Canada and China.
The oil company reassessed its pumping unit supply model and, under the light of its strategic planning target and projected consumption for five years. This allowed scale for a long-term agreement with the installation of a new and modern plant in Brazil.
This new pumping unit plant will initially have 70% of its capacity contracted to meet part of Petrobras’s demand, while the remaining 30% will be set aside for other oil producers in Brazil or for exports, said the company.
The agreement also calls, in a second phase, for the development of major pumping units, in addition to the possibility of an extension for installation and maintenance services.
