Offshore contract marks exciting times for Forgemasters

SHEFFIELD Forgemasters has clinched its first major offshore contract in Brazil confirming its position as a new world player in the multi-billion pound market.

The Sheffield-based engineering giant has won a £1.2m contract to supply a series of insert castings for a semi-submersible floating structure that will operate in the Roncador oil field in the Campos Basin.

The deal comes after Forgemasters was named as an approved supplier to Petrobras – Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant.

The 48 castings, which will weigh up to five tonnes each, will be used on Platform P56 in the Roncador field some 125 kilometers off the Rio de Janeiro coast.

Terry Whaley from Sheffield Forgemasters said:

“Our castings will be used on the highly stressed parts of the semi-submersible where fabrications cannot cope with the high fatigue.

“Castings like these are now accepted as the only solution for the most vulnerable points of the offshore structures where it is not only necessary to use the best steel quality but also to produce a casting that copes with harsh environmental conditions.”

The discovery of what could be massive oil reserves off the coast of Brazil, announced last month, has the potential to transform Brazil's oil industry and catapult the country up the league table of oil-producing nations.

Petrobras is seen as a world leader in both the exploration and production development segments with more than 100 production platforms, 16 refineries, 30,000 kilometers of ducts and more than 6,000 gas stations.

Delivery of the castings is expected to start in May next year with completion in December 2008.