Aberdeen's Wood to employ 1,500 workers on major $250 million contract extension

In May, Wood said it was confident over its long-term prospects after US private equity suitor Apollo Management dropped its £1.7 billion proposed takeover of the energy services heavyweight, which employs more than 35,000 people in some 60 countries.

Wood chief executive Ken Gilmartin said: “Wood is pleased to continue supporting BSP’s offshore assets in the next phase of its rejuvenation project to upgrade core assets, which account for around 80 per cent of BSP’s production, making this work critically important to the company. This extension shows progress on our strategy; which focuses on reimbursable projects and complex work in critical industries; that we laid out last year and demonstrates the strength of our relationship with an important client in a key region. It is also testament to our track record of performance excellence, safe operations and innovative technical expertise.”

Employing some 1,500 skilled employees under the contract, 65 per cent of whom are local to Brunei, Wood said it was committed to investing in local people and capabilities. The extension to February 2026 means that the group will deliver a range of services to BSP’s top 20 offshore installations, which account for around 80 per cent of the company’s total oil and gas production. The contract will be delivered by Wood’s teams in Brunei from the company’s main location in Kuala Belait and offshore, supported by the Manila, Philippines office.

Apollo had put forward a series of bid proposals for Wood, with the last one for 240p a share in cash, valuing the Scots group at some £1.66bn. Wood, which had decided to engage in talks with Apollo in April after rejecting previous approaches, said its board “remains confident in Wood’s strategic direction and long-term prospects”.