USA and Canada

Texas-based Treaty Energy Corp. has acquired its own drilling rig ahead of commencing operations in Belize, it has been announced.

The Schramm Rig, purchased in Alabama, has been shipped to a service center for inspection and upgrades as needed, prior to its shipment to Belize in June.

The rig is capable of drilling with either air or mud, and is thus able to drill with either method if on-site conditions change, the company said.

Noble Energy has announced the discovery of oil at its Santiago exploration prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Around 60 feet of oil pay was identified in the well, which was located in 6,500 feet of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 519 and drilled to a total depth of approximately 18,920 feet.

Noble Energy is the operator at Santiago, with a 23.25 percent working interest. Houston Energy holds 10 percent, Red Willow Offshore has 20.25 percent, and BP Exploration & Production holds the remaining 46.5 percent.  

Seattle-based clean water technology company HaloSource has established a wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary to manufacture, import and distribute its products for partners in Brazil.  

HaloSource Water Purification Importacoes Ltda will deal in the company’s HaloPure powered components, cartridges and devices.

Japanese auto manufacturer Honda has said that North American production should return to normal in August—ahead of the original recovery plan—for all models except the new Honda Civic.

North American production was cut by half last month because of parts shortages from Japanese manufacturers whose production had been interrupted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Chrysler Group LLC has announced the repayment of $7.6 billion in outstanding US and Canadian government loans following the completion of new refinancing transactions.

The original loans were repaid in full, more than six years ahead of schedule, along with the payment of accrued interest and additional consideration.

Andrew Bellamy, CEO of Austal, one of the world’s leading aluminium shipbuilders, talks to Jayne Alverca about the winds of change that are blowing in the wake of a major defence contract with the US Navy.

Austal, headquartered in Henderson, Western Australia, is the largest builder of aluminium fast ferries in the world, with a customer base that spans the globe. The company has reached this level of success in just over 20 years—an achievement that CEO Andrew Bellamy attributes to three key factors.

Con Edison Development, a leading developer of renewable energy infrastructure in the US Northeast, has delivered the largest operating solar installation in New England.

The ten-acre solar facility is sited on the New Bedford Business Park, which straddles the towns of Dartmouth and New Bedford in Massachusetts.

With more than 8,000 crystalline silicon panels, the installation delivers enough energy to provide power to 2,000 households. The ground-mounted panels are virtually invisible from outside the park.

Raytheon Company has been awarded a US Navy contract worth $84.7 million for continued production of ALR-67(V)3 digital radar warning receivers.

The Raytheon system is the US Navy standard for digital radar warning receiver technology, made for installation on all frontline, carrier-based F/A-18 E/F tactical aircraft and an integral part of modernization programs for US and international customers.

The contract was awarded by the US Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland.

The United States Department of Justice has given the go-ahead for Caterpillar to acquire mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus International, concluding the antitrust review process in the US.

The clearance by the DOJ will allow the acquisition, valued at approximately $8.6 billion (including net debt), to proceed as soon as all other conditions to closing have been satisfied. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2011.

The acquisition is based on Caterpillar's key strategic imperative to expand its leadership in the mining equipment industry.

Georgia-Pacific Chemicals has said it is expanding capabilities at its Lufkin, Texas facility in order to meet growing demand from the energy industry.

The company, which manufactures resins used to coat proppants for oil and gas extraction, said that demand for its products is growing due to the increased use of hydraulic fracturing techniques within the energy industry over the past few years.