Companies in the news
APRIL
International engineering and project management company Amec announced the acquisition of the UK-based asset optimization services company Performance Improvements Group (PI) Ltd. PI is an engineering consultancy focusing on the North Sea. The company employs 120 people. Amec has a history of working with PI, and the two companies having collaborated on major gas compressor station contracts for National Grid in the UK.
FMC Technologies Inc. will engineer and manufacture four subsea manifolds and controls for Petrobras’ Roncador Module III project. The company will supply two 6-slot subsea manifolds to distribute gas-lift injection to 12 wells. The manifolds will also contain 12 subsea control modules that will provide electro-hydraulic functions to operate the manifolds and subsea trees. Two additional manifolds will be used for water injection and will utilize all-electric actuators for the operation of the chokes.
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Gulf Technical and Safety Training Centre (GTSC), a subsidiary of AlMansoori Specialised Engineering, announced major expansion plans for its Mussaffah base in Abu Dhabi with the Middle East’s first fully operational training well. The $1.5 million investment will see a new 1,700-ft well with 7-in. casing drilled and 3-in. completion, complete with a 19-m derrick and a 16-m working platform. A 30-ton hoisting device will enable completion strings to be run in and out the well, ensuring that the training is as accurate to real operations as possible. The well will provide course participants with hands-on experience in drilling, completion, well intervention and workovers.
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Rockwell Automation Inc. has agreed to purchase the majority of the assets of engineering company Rutter Hinz Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rutter Inc. Rutter Hinz, headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada, has engineering expertise in industrial automation, process control and power distribution, specifically for the oil and gas industry. The company’s management team and 220 employees will join Rockwell Automation’s Systems & Solutions business unit.
Modec announced that the FPSO Cidade de Niteroi MV18, owned and operated by Modec and leased to Petrobras, has reached first oil. It is the fourth vessel the company has delivered to Brazil and the fourth it will operate. Two additional FPSOs are under construction for Petrobras and partners—the Cidade de Santos MV20, which will be deployed in Urugua Field and will also gather production from the Tambau Field, and the Cidade de Angra dos Reis MV22, which is the pilot FPSO for the pre-salt Tupi area in the Santos Basin.
Endress+Hauser has established its own distribution and service company in Doha, Qatar. Endress+Hauser (Qatar) LLC opened for business in February and will provide support to customers in the oil and gas, petrochemical and primaries industries, with special focus on commissioning, maintenance and repairs.
Superior Energy Services has received the newest vessel in its fleet, the derrick barge Superior Pride. The vessel is 400 ft long, 100 ft wide and 32 ft deep and features an 880-metric-ton crane manufactured by Husiman. It has accommodations for 360 people, including portable units installed by HB Rentals, a Superior Energy Services company, which provide 60 additional bunks and 16 offices offering 34 work stations. The vessel was delivered to Superior in Xiamen, China, where it was loaded onto a submersible ship for transport to West Africa.
A new company, Integrated Drilling Equipment (IDE), has been created as a vertically integrated, sole-source provider of US-manufactured, land-based drilling rigs and related systems. IDE and its subsidiary groups will provide customers with all aspects of the design, manufacturing, refurbishing, reconfiguring and field servicing of land-based drilling rigs, rig equipment, rig control systems and related parts. The subsidiaries are IEC Systems, Advanced Rig Services (ARS) and IDE Hydraulics Group.
PetroSkills has acquired PetrEX International, a provider of drilling training and consulting in the oil and gas industry. PetroSkills provides competency-based training to the petroleum industry.
BJ Services Co. has opened two new operations bases in the US. The new Farmington, New Mexico, facility represents the first of several planned expansions in the Americas Region. The base will serve the oil flushing, nitrogen, chemical cleaning and pipeline services market in the southwestern US. In addition, the company has opened a new process and pipeline services facility in Hubbard, Ohio.
Flowserve Corp. announced the signing of a joint venture agreement with S&A Abahsain Co. Ltd., a Saudi Arabian business entity. Building on existing joint ventures with the Flowserve Pump and Seal divisions, Abahsain and Flowserve have expanded their relationship to include the manufacturing of control valves, ball valves, plug valves, butterfly valves, and electric and pneumatic actuators for the oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries. The joint venture, called Flowserve/Abahsain Flow Control Company Ltd., will begin initial manufacturing from a temporary facility in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. A new facility capable of manufacturing the full line of valve products will be constructed in Dammam, and is expected to be operational by 2010.
Engineering and construction company Subsea 7 Inc. was named “Subsea Company of the Year” at the 2009 Subsea UK Business Awards. Finalists in the category were judged on a number of factors, including: growth in the past year; national and international profile and reputation; business and technical excellence; commitment to staff training and development; and commitment to safety and the environment.
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