OSLO, Norway, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A subsidiary of Norwegian oilfield services company Aker Solutions said Monday it won a $465 million contract for work off the coast of Brazil.
Subsidiary Aker Oilfield Services secured the five-year contract from Brazilian energy company Petrobras.
The Norwegian company said a support vessel in a shipyard in Norway will be converted for deep water operations under the terms of the contract. The vessel will be used to help install and retrieve equipment used to recover oil from fields off the Brazilian coast.
The contract begins in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Brazil ranks second behind Venezuela in proven oil reserves in South America. Offshore production is complicated because much of the oil reserves lie beneath a thick layer of salt.
Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro, has struggled with production levels in the past, but attributed the declines to scheduled maintenance at its offshore fields.
U.S. oil services company Baker Hughes last week was cleared to form a partnership on subsea production technology with Aker Solutions.
