WOOD Group has been awarded a $50 million (£31m) contract to help install the production facilities for a major new field in the UK North Sea.

Aberdeen-based Wood Group has been engaged by Nexen to carry out the Golden Eagle Area Development.

The work will involve attaching the 70-metre bridge that will join the two production platforms on the field and connecting them to wells on the seabed. The field is located about 70 miles north-east of Aberdeen and first production is expected in late 2014.

Wood Group said it will employ around 100 people to service the two-year agreement.

Operated by Nexen, the £2 billion Golden Eagle development is expected to produce an estimated 140 million barrels of oil equivalent proved and probable reserves over an 18-year period.