Forging ahead in Brazil

Engineering group Sheffield Forgemasters is celebrating its first major offshore contract in Brazil.

The UK company claimed signing the £1.2m deal has elevated it to the big league of the global offshore industry.

Forgemasters will supply inset castings for a semi-submersible floating structure in the Roncador oil field in the Campos Basin 125km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

Weighing up to five tonnes each, the castings will be used on highly stressed parts of the structure where fabrications cannot cope with fatigue. Delivery will begin in May with the project completed by next December.

The Sheffield-based company secured the deal as a result of its approved supplier status with Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil and gas group.

According to Forgemasters, recent discoveries of potentially huge oil reserves off Brazil could massively increase the country’s status as an oil producing nation.

‘This contract opens up a huge new market for us in Brazil and puts our name among key people in the industry in South America,’ said the company.