SAO PAULO (AP) — General Electric has signed a $1 billion contract with Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras to provide offshore equipment.
GE says in a Tuesday statement that the contract includes delivery of about 380 sub-sea wellhead systems and installation tools needed in oil well exploration. The company emphasized that 75 percent of the parts will be made in Brazil.
It's part of the Petrobras push to develop some of the largest oil finds discovered in recent decades. The reserves off Brazil's southeastern coast are thought to hold at least 50 billion barrels of oil in hard-to-reach deep waters.
U.S.-based GE says the contract builds upon its existing relationship with Petrobras. In 2009 GE signed a $250 million contract to supply Petrobras with sub-sea wellheads.
