Industry News
IBM Opens Calgary Oil Sands Centre of Excellence
Wednesday, IBM opened its US $2.6 million Oil Sands Centre of Excellence in Calgary, which aims to help petroleum producers test and use new technologies that will lower costs and make oil recovery easier, more efficient, and more intelligent. The center is the fifth IBM facility focused on the global oil and gas industry to open in the past two years.
The development of Alberta's oil sands will be one of the world's largest capital investments, with the petroleum industry expected to invest between US$42.4 billion and US$84.8 billion within the next decade. But capital costs have doubled in the past five years and many projects are behind schedule and over budget. The new center will promote collaboration among all industry players, helping them do business more effectively.
Located in IBM's Calgary offices, the center will introduce a variety of technologies including radio frequency identification, three dimensional data visualization, kiosks, and software integration. These technologies will improve construction and project management, labour productivity, business processes and environmental management.
IBM works closely with a number of companies involved in oil sands projects and plans to partner with other technology companies and key industry players at the center.
Other IBM facilities focused on the global oil and gas industry include: IBM Oil & Gas Centre of Excellence in Stavanger, Norway; the Energy Competency Center (ECC), Abu Dhabi; the Energy Competency Center (ECC) Beijing, and the Energy Competency Center (ECC) Moscow.
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BP to Purchase Chevron's Manufacturing Business in the Netherlands
Representatives of BP announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase Chevron's Netherlands manufacturing company, Texaco Raffinaderij Pernis B.V., for around $900 million, excluding working capital and hydrocarbon inventory. As a result of the deal, BP will acquire Chevron's 31 per cent minority shareholding in the Netherlands Refining Company (Nerefco), Chevron's stake in the jointly owned wind farm located at the refinery and their shareholdings in the nearby TEAM crude oil terminal and storage facility and a number of associated pipelines.
On completion of the transaction, which is expected during the first half of the year subject to the required regulatory approvals, Nerefco Refinery, which is located in Europoort, Rotterdam, will become a 100 per cent BP owned asset.
Nerefco has a crude distillation capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, one of the largest in Europe, and can export products worldwide in addition to serving European markets. The transaction is not expected to have any impact on day to day operations at the refinery or on its employees.
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Lockheed Martin Awarded $311 Million Arrowhead Modernized TADS/PNVS Production Contract
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a follow-on production contract for Arrowhead®, the new electro-optical system for AH-64 Apache combat helicopter pilots. The contract, valued at $311 million, was signed during a ceremony at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, AL on February 28.
The Lot 4 agreement authorizes production of 158 Arrowhead kits for some of the remaining U.S. Army and foreign military sales inventory, as well as wartime replacement Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) systems for new aircraft. The contract also includes spares for both. The Arrowhead kit modernizes the U.S. Army's TADS/PNVS – known as the "eyes of the Apache" – for the 21st century by upgrading the infrared sensors and associated electronics.
Lockheed Martin will produce Lot 4 in Orlando and Ocala, FL. The final deliveries for Lot 4 production will occur in December 2009.
Lockheed Martin signed the original TADS/PNVS production contract on April 30, 1982, and the first TADS/PNVS system was fielded in 1983. The first Arrowhead production contract award was awarded on November 11, 2003. Lockheed Martin rolled out the first Arrowhead system to the U.S. Army in May 2005, and completed integration on the first Apache helicopters in June 2005.
