FTS International Brazilian Joint Venture to Commence Operations in 2013

FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FTS International (FTSI) and PETRA Energia S.A. have officially signed an agreement for a Brazilian joint venture establishing FTS Brasil Serviços de Petróleo e Gás Ltda. (FTS Brasil), and the new joint venture has received regulatory approval to operate from Brazil’s Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Economic Defense Administrative Council).

FTS Brasil plans to commence operations in 2013, with headquarters located in Rio de Janeiro. The company plans to initially operate in both the São (San) Francisco and Recôncavo basins with field operations located throughout Brazil.

FTS Brasil will provide well completion products and services for onshore conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells in Brazil. These services will be provided in a similar fashion to FTSI’s vertically integrated business model in the United States, involving manufacturing, assembly and servicing of well completion equipment, such as high-pressure hydraulic pumps and mobile pressure pumping units. FTS Brasil may also provide other products and services, including mining, production, sourcing and marketing of raw materials, such as proppants and specialized well completion additives.

Initial operations will include the mobilization of approximately 22,500 hydraulic horsepower (hhp) of FTSI’s mobile pressure pumping equipment in Brazil.

The company’s long-term plan is to manufacture well completion equipment and blend additives in Brazil, using the local labor force, as well as other local goods and services. FTS Brasil also plans to provide transportation, research and development, and laboratory services in connection with its well completion services.

This Brazilian joint venture creates a presence for FTSI in an oil and gas rich region of South America.

FTS International (www.ftsi.com) is a leading provider of well completion and stimulation services for the oil and gas industry. Exploration and production companies use FTSI’s products and services primarily to enhance their recovery rates from oil and gas wells. FTSI’s vertical integration provides a competitive edge, as the company custom manufactures, assembles and produces many key components used in its operations, including high-pressure hydraulic pumps and mobile pressure pumping units. FTSI also owns and operates sand mines and processing facilities for producing proppants, and owns and operates a wireline company.

PETRA Energia S.A. is a private Brazilian owned and operated exploration and production company with headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The company holds 32 concession blocks of nearly 20 million net acres in three sedimentary basins, being the largest onshore concession holder in Brazil. Petra is actively drilling one of Latin America’s most aggressive onshore drilling campaigns. The company expects to reach first production in the second semester of 2012, less than two years following its first frontier discovery in the Parnaíba Basin. Petra is pioneering the exploration of unconventional gas in Brazil with its São Francisco Basin asset, of which the company has 100 percent interest in 24 blocks.