Burnaby-based Weatherhaven, a maker of portable shelters, camps and systems for remote sites, has signed a long-term agreement to provide Brazilian oil and gas company HRT Participaceos em Petroleo SA with exploration camps in the Amazon.
The camps, which Weatherhaven will deliver in conjunction with Brazilian construction company Esbracon, will be used for HRT’s oil and gas exploration and production program.
Weathehaven CEO Ray Castelli said the deal is “very significant” for the company, and could involve the provision of as many as 10 camps over the next three or four years.
“It’s potentially [worth] $30 million to $40 million,” he said.
According to a Weatherhaven news release, the camps “will provide the best available worldwide technology to deliver the highest standards of environmental sensitivity, sustainability and employee health, safety and comfort” and will address “the logistical challenges of developing this infrastructure in a remote and environmentally-sensitive region like the Amazon.”
Castelli said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent trip to Brazil, which focused on improving trade relations, was “very significant” to Weatherhaven getting this deal done.
“I was part of the trade delegation that came to Brazil with the prime minister and we were able to arrange a meeting with the CEO of HRT with the prime minister,” he said.
“Part of the spirit of that visit was getting Brazilian and Canadian companies to work together to bring technology and to explore opportunities in Brazil; this [deal] is very much in the spirit of what Prime Minister Harper was trying to accomplish.”
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV