Aker Solutions won a contract worth more than USD 300 million from Petrobras to supply eight manifolds that alternately inject water and gas to increase oil recovery from Brazil's deepwater offshore fields.

The subsea manifolds, designed for water depths of 2,500 meters, will be installed by Petrobras and its partners in deepwater pre-salt field developments. The units have a design life of 30 years and the first is scheduled to be delivered in 2016.

"We are pleased to work with Petrobras on its important and technically challenging pre-salt developments," said Øyvind Eriksen, executive chairman of Aker Solutions. "Brazil is a key market for our subsea technology and one of the fastest-growing areas in the oil and gas industry."

The order will be executed by Aker Solutions' Brazilian subsea division. The unit last year began work to double its subsea equipment manufacturing capacity at a plant in Curitiba by 2015. About 70 percent of the contract with Petrobras will be procured and manufactured in Brazil.

"Aker Solutions is committed to delivering high local content in Brazil, where demand for complex subsea production equipment is growing," said Luis Araujo, president for Aker Solutions in Brazil.

The manifolds will play a key part in the crucial injection process that helps improve recovery from the fields.

About Aker Solutions

Aker Solutions is a global provider of products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. Our engineering, design and technology bring discoveries into production and maximize recovery from each petroleum field. We employ approximately 28,000 people in about 30 countries.

About Petrobras

We have upwards of 100 production platforms, 16 refineries, 30,000 kilometers of pipelines and more than 6,000 service stations. Our proved reserves are around 14 billion barrels of oil, a figure expected to double in the next few years. With the discovery of oil and gas in the pre-salt region, Brazil may become the world's fourth biggest oil producer in 2030.

We have built a track record of overcoming challenges since 1953, when the company was created. The main one was developing technology to explore and produce oil in deep and ultra-deep waters, where upwards of 90% of our reserves are nestled. With innovation and daringness, we are now the Brazilian company that makes the applies for the most patents in Brazil and abroad.