On Friday executive vice president Tore Torvund opened Hydro's new office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Hydro is currently in the midst of an extensive field development programme in the country, following the purchase of the Peregrino field (BM-C-7), in which the company owns a 50 percent stake.
Peregrino is a major, heavy-oil field in the Campos area, 85 km south-east of Rio.
In drawing up the field development plan, great importance has been attached to utilizing the competence and experience gained when developing similar fields on the Norwegian continental shelf and when drilling horizontal wells to increase recoverable reserves.
Hydro is operator during the project development phase, while Anadarko is participating as partner with a 50 percent interest.
"The acquisition of Peregrino makes Hydro a major player on the Brazilian continental shelf. We have now established an excellent platform for further growth in an area with large oil and gas resources," said Tore Torvund when he opened the office.
Hydro also has extensive operations in a number of other areas in Brazil, including technological cooperation with the Brazilian oil company Petrobras.
The opening of the new office means that Hydro's Oil & Energy and Aluminium operations will share the same Rio de Janeiro headquarters. Hydro's business unit for Brazil is headed by senior vice president Kjetil Solbrække.