HOUSTON, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Willbros Group, Inc. (NYSE: WG) announced today that two units of its Utility T&D segment have been awarded transmission construction projects in Texas.

Willbros T&D was awarded a contract by New Braunfels Utilities to remove 3.1 miles of existing line and install approximately 3.8 miles of new line. The project is scheduled to begin in February and will be completed by the end of May.

Additionally, Xcel Energy Services Inc., on behalf of its operating company, Southwestern Public Service Company, awarded Chapman Construction, a division of Willbros, the first 104 miles of a 200 mile single circuit 345-kilovolt transmission line project in the Texas Panhandle. Construction on the project is scheduled to commence towards the end of the second quarter with wire installation in the last half of 2013.

Randy Harl, President and Chief Executive Officer, remarked, "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with New Braunfels Utilities and Xcel Energy to support their reliability and expansion efforts. These awards demonstrate progress towards our strategy to expand our transmission capabilities and presence in Texas and the surrounding states. We are seeing increased opportunities for both high and low voltage transmission construction and these project awards position us to obtain additional work in this region."

Willbros Group, Inc. is an independent contractor serving the oil, gas, power, refining and petrochemical industries, providing engineering, construction, turnaround, maintenance, life-cycle extension services and facilities development and operations services to industry and government entities worldwide. For more information on Willbros, please visit our web site at www.willbros.com.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address activities, events or developments the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements.  A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including  the potential for additional investigations and lawsuits; disruptions to the global credit markets; the untimely filing of financial statements; the global economic downturn; fines and penalties by government agencies; new legislation or regulations detrimental to the economic operation of refining capacity in the United States; the identification of one or more other issues that require restatement of one or more prior period financial statements; contract and billing disputes; the integration and operation of InfrastruX; the consequences the Company may encounter if it is unable to make payments required of it pursuant to its settlement agreement of the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited lawsuit; the existence of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting; availability of quality management; availability and terms of capital; changes in, or the failure to comply with, government regulations; ability to remain in compliance with, or obtain waivers under, the Company's loan agreements and indentures; the promulgation, application, and interpretation of environmental laws and regulations; future E&P capital expenditures; oil, gas, gas liquids, and power prices and demand; the amount and location of planned pipelines; poor refinery crack spreads; delay of planned refinery outages and upgrades; the effective tax rate of the different countries where the Company performs work; development trends of the oil, gas, power, refining and petrochemical industries; and changes in the political and economic environment of the countries in which the Company has operations; as well as other risk factors described from time to time in the Company's documents and reports filed with the SEC.  The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Willbros Group, Inc.