Oil and gas industry announcements: 14 May 2015

CB&I

CB&I has announced that it has been awarded a contract by NextDecade LLC, for the front end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement and construction terms related to the Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas. The scope of work includes all design and engineering activities required for the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) permitting process, as well as for preparation for procurement of critical equipment prior to the final investment decision. The Rio Grande LNG project includes plans for up to six liquefaction trains, with a nominal output capacity of 4.5 million tpy of LNG per train.

Chapman Freeborn

Chapman Freeborn Airchartering and Volga-Dnepr Airlines have helped to keep a key oil facility open by delivering a time critical outsize part of Switzerland to Brazil. A 28 t rotor was flown from Zurich to Salvador on Volga-Dnepr Ilyushin-76TD-90VD freighter aircraft, chartered by Chapman Freeborn on behalf of an oil and gas industry client.

With the plant facing closure until the replacement part could be delivered, specialists at Chapman Freeborn’s Sao Paulo office coordinated the time critical operation which required special exemptions to allow for customs clearance during the weekend.

Johnson Matthey

Christopher Barnard, who worked at Johnson Matthey’s Technology Centre in Sonning Common, UK, has been recognised for his contributions to the chemical sciences industry. Barnard is the Royal Society of Chemistry Creativity in Industry Prize winner for 2015.

VTT

VTT has demonstrated that lignocellulosic biomass can be successfully converted into pure benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) chemicals. The aim of this reach is to enable the use of wood based chemicals to replace crude oil in, for example, plastics, fuels, medicines and plants. Demand has grown rapidly fro chemicals generated from renewable sources, creating a need for alternative, environmentally friendly production routes. Particularly sought after chemicals include pure aromatics, such as the BTX chemicals.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd has developed a method of manufacturing BTX chemicals by combining the gasification of lignocellulosic biomass, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and aromatisation. Over 85% of the separated benzene exceeded 80% purity and around 50% of the separated toluene was over 70% purity. The process can be applied to the production of bio based chemicals. However, both benzene and toluene can also be used in the manufacture of more sophisticated compounds.

Yokogawa

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that as of the end of fiscal year 2014, 14 of its employees have obtained certification as Global Industrial Cyber Security Professionals (GICSP). This is a relatively new professional qualification, first introduced in November 2013, and Yokogawa has been one of the leading companies within the industrial automation industry in obtaining certification for its employees. This attests to the high level industrial cyber security expertise of its workforce and is in line with the company’s long standing commitment to bringing its customers safety and asset excellence.

The GICSP certification exam is offered under the auspices of Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC), a leader in the cyber security certification field. The GICSP is the only credential of its kind that addresses the specific cyber security issues that are encountered in the industrial control systems (ICS) field. This vendor neutral certification is aimed at IT, engineering, and security professionals working in every industry. It assesses and validates that professionals have the skills, knowledge, and capabilities needed to be in a role where they will exercise responsibility for the cyber security of an ICS.

Edited from press releases by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/14052015/oil-gas-announcements/