With an eye to expanding markets, CHC Helicopter is extending its presence in Brazil, where demand for offshore helicopter support of the oil industry is growing rapidly.

CHC, a major provider of helicopter services to the global offshore oil and gas industry, revealed last year that it had been granted “an irrevocable option to acquire a significant equity position in Brazilian Helicopter Services [BHS]” and that it intended to exercise that option. In July the company announced that the deal had been finalized, allowing it to provide operation expertise exclusively, including safety management systems, maintenance procedures, technical support, flight standards, advisory personnel and general offshore oil and gas expertise.

BHS is one of the largest helicopter operators in the Brazilian offshore sector, employing a team of more than 200 and operating a fleet of 11 aircraft, including AS 332 Super Puma Mk 2s and Sikorsky S-76s. The Rio de Janeiro-based operator provides services under contracts valued at close to $200 million.

According to CHC, the agreement was reached “with the intention of establishing a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship in the rapidly expanding Brazilian offshore sector. Petrobras (Petróleo Brasileiro), Brazil’s federal energy company, last year announced plans to triple natural gas production to 100 million cubic meters per day by 2010.

In June, before it acquired the equity position in BHS, CHC Helicopter announced it had been awarded a new five-year contract to provide eight Sikorsky S-76C+s in support of Petrobras operations. Addition of the new aircraft doubles the size of the CHC fleet on contract in Brazil.

The Petrobras contract is expected to begin in January, with aircraft to be phased in over an eight-month period. Total revenue anticipated from the contract is estimated to be approximately $170 million over five years.