Projects and contracts - April 11th 2014

Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai have announced the official incorporation of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), formed by integrating the two shareholders' respective aluminium interests.

EGA's core operating entities are Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL), whose combined annual production currently accounts for 50 percent of the total primary aluminium produced within the Gulf Cooperation Council region.  With EGA's primary aluminium production set to reach 2.4 million tonnes per annum by mid-2014, the company will join the ranks of world's top aluminium producers. Read more here

U.S. Department of Energy and ROSATOM have suspended several joint projects in peaceful use of atomic energy. The US side of the venture cites "Russia's actions in Ukraine" as the reason for the decision. See more here.

Jacobs Engineering Group's joint venture with HDR received a single-award contract from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic to provide architecture and engineering services at various locations worldwide. The five-year USD60 million contract will see the joint venture support the sustainment, restoration, and modernisation program for U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense facilities and infrastructure. Read more about it here.

Jacobs Engineering Group also received a contract from ConocoPhillips Company to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for projects across the lower 48 states of the United States. While the contract value was not disclosed, it will run for three years with the option to extend the agreement for a further four years. Jacobs' scope of work under the terms of the contract includes front-end studies and engineering, procurement and construction management services for a range of ConocoPhillips projects. See more information here.

Jacobs Engineering Group also won a contract from North West Redwater Partnership for its Sturgeon Refinery Project in Alberta, Canada. It will deliver engineering and procurement services for the utilities requirements of the refinery. Read more details here.

Pakistani company Techno Engineering Services (Pvt.) Ltd. has won the contract from Gazprom Neft to lay the pipeline connecting Iraq's Badra oilfield to the power station in Zubaidiah. Techno Engineering Services will produce the designs, supply the equipment and materials, and carry out construction of the pipeline. First gas transportation via the pipeline, which is almost 100 km in length and has a daily capacity of 4.4 million cu m, is scheduled for 2015. See more here.

Wood Group GTS has completed two steam turbine major inspections and received awards for three additional steam turbine outages from five US power plants. The cumulative USD4.2 million in services are scheduled for the first half of this year. Read more here.

KTR-WG Turbine Services LLP (KTR-WG), a joint venture between Wood Group GTS and KazTurboRemont (KTR), has been awarded a long-term service agreement by the North Caspian Production Operating Company (NCPOC) in Kazakhstan.

The joint venture will support the critical rotating equipment on the Kashagan project and the contract includes six GE Frame 6B, two GE Frame 5D, three Siemens SGT-600 and four Rolls-Royce RB211 gas turbines, in addition to all driven equipment, steam turbines, standby diesels and compressors. Find more information here

ABB has won an order worth roughly USD40 million from Energinet.dk, the Danish transmission system operator, to build an alternating-current (AC) power cable system that will help integrate and transmit power from the Horns Rev 3 offshore wind farm. Read more here.

Technip, in partnership with China HuanQiu Contracting & Engineering Corporation (HQC), has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for Ar Ratawi Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) train1 project at North Rumaila in Basra Province, Iraq by Basra Gas Company. Find more here.

Technip has also signed an agreement to sell to WSP - its TPS subsidiary, which specializes in engineering and construction for the industry. The sale is in line with its strategy to focus on its core energy business, says Technip. Read more here. http://www.technip.com/en/press/technip-sell-its-subsidiary-tps

Gammon Construction Limited - a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Jardine Matheson - has been awarded a USD210 million contract by the Singapore Land Transport Authority for the construction of Havelock Station for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system in Singapore. See more details here.

Oil and gas exploration concern Shell successfully exported its first shipment of crude oil from the Majnoon oilfield in Iraq. The oilfield has reached a current average of 210,000 barrels per days (BPD), well in excess of the 175,000 BPD initially forecast.

Hans Nijkamp, vice president and chairman of Shell in Iraq, observed the significance of the achievement: "This is a historic event for Iraq's energy industry. The lifting of Shell's first oil shipment from Majnoon has great significance to us and our partners in the Government as it is a testimony to our shared progress and signals the start of Majnoon's long-term journey toward generating further revenue for Iraq's economy, and as an investment in Iraq's future." Find more details here.

Skanska has been awarded a contract to build a wastewater treatment plant for a mining client in Peru. The project will treat residual waters to utilise part of them in the mining process, avoiding the use of fresh river water. Skanska will be in charge of the construction of the plant and four pump stations.

The United Kingdom Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has chosen the Cavendish Fluor Partnership as the preferred bidder in the competition to take ownership of Magnox Ltd and Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL), the companies that manage and operate 12 UK nuclear power plant sites. It is anticipated that this contract will provide savings in excess of USD1.6 billion in the decommissioning program for the 12 nuclear sites. Read more about it here.

The New York Power Authority has awarded a contract worth almost USD20 million for work on the company's Niagara hydropower project, reported Hydroworld.com.

Ferguson Electric has been contracted for the installation of auxiliary equipment as part of ongoing upgrades to NYPA's 240-MW Lewiston pumped-storage plant. Ferguson Electric will install static exciters, generator circuit breakers, cable, conduits, unit instrumentation and AC/DC distribution system equipment to all 12 pump-turbine units at Lewiston. See more here. 

Sembcorp Industries will expand its industrial wastewater treatment business to China's Hubei province. It has signed an approximately USD20 million deal to build and operate a 10,000 cu m per day water treatment facility in the area. Read more here.

Orsk Refinery will launch a new hydrocracker that will allow it to make petrol with ultra-low sulphur content, and also Euro 5 jet and diesel fuel. Shell will provide a hydrocracking technology licence and will also supply catalysts and internal reactor parts for the new unit. The refinery expects to boost its yield to 84.8 percent, and to increase its light oil products yield to 75.1 percent. Read more information here.

Four contracts with a cumulative value of approximately USD754.47 million have been awarded by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) to facilitate the delivery of new and upgraded power lines in the north of Scotland. The contract has been awarded to: Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited; Amec Group Limited MSVE Transmission; and Babcock Networks Limited. Find more details here.

Gamesa has developed a pioneering system for the prevention of ice formation on wind turbine blades called Bladeshield. It consists of anti-icing 'paint' that prevents the formation of ice and boosts the paint's resistance to erosion. Read more here.

Gamesa has also reached an agreement with Energa, one of Poland's leading energy companies, for the supply of 20 MW of its turbines at the Myslino wind farm, in commune Go?cino. Find out more here.

Sacyr Industrial will build a cement plant in Bolivia for USD244 million in the Region of Oruro. Read more details here.

BP intends to halt refining operations at its 102,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, Queensland by mid-2015. See more here.

Bass Strait Oil Company has commenced a formal divestment process for its offshore Gippsland Basin portfolio offshore Victoria, Australia. More details can be found here.

Stuart Bradie has been named president and chief executive officer of KBR, Inc., effective June 2, 2014. He succeeds William "Bill" Utt, who is retiring. Bradie has more than 25 years of industry experience and joins KBR from WorleyParsons, where he held the position of group managing director - operations and delivery. Read more about it here.

Cairn Energy has stated that as part of its long term succession planning, Dr. Mike Watts, deputy ceo, and Jann Brown, managing director and cfo will not seek re-election at the AGM on May 15, 2014 and will stand down as executive directors of the company. See more here.

American Capital Energy & Infrastructure has appointed Robert "Bo" Wholey as its managing director responsible for sourcing, underwriting and managing energy and infrastructure investments in North America. More information here.

UK Network Rail has appointed Dr. Francis Paonessa its managing director, infrastructure projects this summer. He will be responsible for spearheading the company's GBP25 billion infrastructure investment programme. Read more here.