Technip to provide pipeline for Libra oil field offshore Brazil

PARIS, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Technip, a French engineering company servicing the energy sector, said its latest contract marks a milestone for one of the larger oil fields in Brazil.

Technip said it secured what it considered a substantial contract, valued at between $110 million and $275 million, to provide some of the pipeline infrastructure for the giant Libra oil field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil.

"Designed to produce the first Libra field oil, they are the first 8-inch oil production pipes to be installed in pre-salt area," the French company said in a statement.

Pre-salt means the oil lies beneath a thick layer of salt on the ocean's floor.

Royal Dutch Shell, French energy company Total, China National Petroleum Corp., China National Offshore Oil Corp., and Brazil's state-run Petrobras won a 35-year production sharing contract in 2013 for the Libra field in the Santos Basin.

Brazil is working to overhaul its energy sector. Corruption scandals have presented a roadblock to reform efforts led by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, a former Petrobras chairman.

In early 2015, Petrobras said in its first audited statement in nearly a year it was writing off around $17 billion, of which $2.1 billion was due to alleged graft.

The Brazilian government estimates the Libra field holds at least 8 billion barrels of oil. Petrobras is striving to produce 4.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2020 from the field. Delivery of the pipes from Technip is expected during the first half of next year.