Projects

Siemens Industry, Inc. has completed the world's largest onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) compressor "mega-train" for Qatargas. The last of the 72 Siemens ROBICON Perfect Harmony Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) has been installed and brought online. As Qatar holds the world's third largest gas reserves, these new LNG projects have allowed the country to raise its overall LNG production capacity to 77 million tns/yr, meeting the demands of global LNG buyers.

The Board of Directors of Ecopetrol have given the green light to Phase 3 of the Modernization Project of the Barrancabermeja Refinery (PMRB) worth a total investment of USD 3.386 billion. Operations will officially begin on the construction phase of the project, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2016. This project will allow the refinery to increase the conversion factor from 76% to 95%, resulting in the ability to obtain more products, including gasoline and diesel.

SENER has been chosen to represent Spain in the prestigious 2011 European Business Awards sponsored by HSBC. SENER was one of 25 Country Representatives and will now compete for a coveted Ruban d’Honneur in the next round of the competition. The final category Award winners will be revealed in Barcelona on 22 November 2011. a

The partners of Samarco have approved the USD 3.5 billion Fourth Pellet Plant Project at Samarco, Brazil. The expansion will increase Samarco iron ore pellet production capacity by 8.3 million to 30.5 million tns/yr. First pellet production is expected in the first half of calendar year 2014. The investment includes additional mining capacity and a third concentrator at the Germano mine

Vale is in talks with two South Korean firms to reduce its stake in a joint venture to build an integrated steel mill in Brazil. Vale's stake may decrease from 50% to 30% in the second phase of construction of the plant, while POSCO and Dongkuk Steel could increase their stakes to 35% each. Currently, POSCO and Dongkuk Steel hold a 20% and 30% stake in the project, respectively.

Vestas has received a 104MW order for 58 V90-1.8MW turbines for a wind energy project in Canada. As per the contract, Vestas will deliver and commission the turbines, along with a 10-year service and maintenance agreement. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2012 and commissioning expected in the fall of 2012. All of the blades and nacelles for this project will be manufactured at Vestas' manufacturing facilities in Colorado.

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (OPT) has awarded four major new contracts to Oregon companies in connection with the manufacture of its PB150 PowerBuoy® wave energy generating device, and its deployment off the coast of Reedsport, Oregon. Including the previously awarded contract to Oregon Iron Works (OIW) for the fabrication of the buoy’s steel structure, or spar, the new contracts bring the total amount invested by OPT in the local economy to over USD 6 million.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA and state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) have agreed to join a project to upgrade the country's sole refinery. They will work together, selling refined oil products to the Asian market. The PetroVietnam-PDVSA refinery agreement coincides a string of similar multi-billion-dollar pacts seen elsewhere in Asia

The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States has voted to grant preliminary approval for a USD 2.84 billion direct loan/loan guarantee to Colombia's Refineria de Cartagena S.A. (Reficar). When approved, the financing will support the purchases of equipment and services from more than 150 large and small U.S. engineering, design, equipment supply, contracting and process license firms, including Chicago Bridge & Iron, Foster Wheeler, Exxon/Mobil and UOP.

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC's Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) demonstration plant has recently arrived in Fortaleza, Brazil following the completion of its construction in Asia. The integrated GTL demonstration plant incorporates the Group's proprietary microchannel reactor and catalyst technologies for the key Steam Methane Reforming ("SMR") and Fischer-Tropsch ("FT") steps of the GTL process. The demonstration is fully funded and managed by the Group's partners