Baker Hughes Wins Contract to Improve Performance in Petrobras Offshore Fields

Petrobras granted Baker Hughes a large-scale integrated solutions contract for plug and abandonment (P&A) and workover services in its pre- and post-salt fields off the coast of Brazil. The project, taking place over the course of a few years, is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2025 and will use Baker Hughes’ integrated solutions portfolio to optimize the performance of Petrobras’ offshore operation.

“Baker Hughes brings to this important project a comprehensive technology portfolio, a deep understanding of localization, and a rich history of working in Brazil,” said Maria Claudia Borras, Executive Vice President, Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes. “Integrating these capabilities will be essential to the success of the project. Our expertise in integrated solutions is the foundation for efficiently taking energy forward in Brazil.”

As per the contract, Baker Hughes will utilize an integrated approach to deploy wireline, coiled tubing, cementing, tubular running, wellbore intervention, fishing, and geosciences services in the offshore salt fields. In addition, the company will integrate its remedial tools, completion fluids, and production chemicals. Supporting Petrobras’ project further, Baker Hughes will expand its Macaé facilities in Rio de Janeiro to include coiled tubing and tubular running services.

Offshore coiled tubing operation; Image Credits: Baker Hughes

At the beginning of 2021, Baker Hughes was contracted to provide Petrobras with a suite of software and hardware across its sites in Brazil. The order, booked in Q4 2020, was for a three-year frame agreement across multiple Baker Hughes Digital Solutions product lines. The order includes flare monitoring and calibration technologies, cybersecurity and remote monitoring services, and interconnected machinery protection systems and sensors.

Baker Hughes will support Petrobras’ thermal plants, refineries, gas treatment units, production plants, offshore platforms, and floating production, storage, and offloading units to ensure the latest regulatory requirements are met.

In May 2024, Baker Hughes was granted a major supply contract from SONATRACH to increase gas production and support a stable gas supply chain between Europe and Algeria. The contract is part of a previous award given to a consortium of Baker Hughes and Tecnimont—a subsidiary of the engineering group MAIRE. The contract’s scope includes 20 compression trains based on the Frame 5 gas turbine and BCL compressor technology. These trains will be installed across three gas-boosting stations in the Hassi R’Mel gas field.

The Hassi R’Mel gas field is located 550 km south of Algiers and is the largest field in Algeria, serving as a primary source of energy supply within the country and Europe. Baker Hughes’ equipment will boost and stabilize the pressure of natural gas and increase the site’s production, enhancing Algeria’s domestic energy system, economy, and Europe’s energy security. The manufacture of the compressors, as well as the packaging and testing of the compressor trains, will be conducted at Baker Hughes’s Italian facilities.

The Hassi R’Mel project is a portion of a larger strategic cooperation between Italy and Algeria, which includes agreements to facilitate bilateral collaboration and financial backing for Algeria’s gas production under the Mattei Plan. This plan promotes cooperation between Africa and Italy according to five policy pillars: education and training, agriculture, health, water, and energy.