UK energy giant BP (LON: BP) has entered into a strategic alliance with Aberdeen-based engineering firm Wood (LON: WG) to enhance efficiency and value across BP’s global assets. The partnership will initially focus on BP’s North Sea operations, with plans to extend the collaboration to Trinidad and Tobago later this year.
Wood’s role in the alliance will center on implementing cost-saving measures while maximizing value within BP’s portfolio. The company stated that while no new roles will be created, over 300 employees are currently supporting BP contracts in Aberdeen.
This alliance builds on a five-year, $350 million multi-region engineering services contract that Wood secured in 2022, covering BP’s offshore installations.
BP has been actively forming alliances to boost operational efficiency, including a recent partnership with Worley in June for site projects in regions such as the Gulf of Mexico, Oman, Mauritania, Senegal, and various refineries across the globe.
The partnership with Wood comes on the heels of the Aberdeen firm reporting nearly $1 billion in half-year losses, following the collapse of Sidara’s takeover. Despite the setback, Wood CEO Ken Gilmartin described the company’s half-year results as “good,” noting that the losses were primarily due to non-cash impairments on older contracts from its 2017 acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler.
Wood has since shifted focus from large-scale EPC projects to more complex and innovative contracts, including a six-year agreement with Shell for the world’s largest floating offshore LNG facility in Australia and a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for Aramco’s carbon capture project in Saudi Arabia.
Martin Simmonite, Wood’s senior vice president of operations in the UK, commented, “The new alliance continues to build on our long-term relationship with BP and complements our multi-regional engineering services contract awarded in 2022.”
As BP celebrates its 60th anniversary in the North Sea, it also continues to advance its joint venture with Aberdeen City Council on the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub. Graeme Gordon, BP’s vice president of production for the North Sea, emphasized that the new alliance with Wood will further strengthen their collaboration and drive innovation in delivering safe and efficient site projects.
