Energy firm Baker Hughes is negotiating a 10-year extension to the lease on its Portlethen base as it plans to develop the site.
Unusually, the lease negotiation was revealed in planning documents submitted to Aberdeenshire Council for the erection of a new industrial building at the Portlethen site on Badentoy Crescent.
The building would boost productivity on the site as work which previously had to be halted in periods of bad weather would now be able to move indoors and continue.
Some equipment storage would also be moved indoors.
Planning documents state: "The proposal aims to address the issues raised by the client, in conjunction with consolidation of existing business activities and a 10-year extension of the site lease currently being negotiated.
"The building will generally be covered storage for certain items currently stored outside, and also allow for business activities which take place externally to be moved inside during extended poor weather episodes."
Energy giant Baker Hughes, which has headquarters both in London and Houston, Texas, took over the lease on the Aberdeenshire site two years ago.