Europe

Commodities trader Glencore and mining giant Xstrata have confirmed they will merge to create a major natural resources group with a combined equity market value of $90 billion.

The companies said that to combine was the logical next step in a changing industry environment.

The combined entity will have production growth of 11 per cent on a compound annual basis to 2015, with positions in the next major regions for mining investment, including the African copper-belt, Kazakhstan and South America.

Tullow Oil has signed two new production sharing agreements (PSAs) with the government of Uganda, paving the way for completion of its asset sale to France’s Total and China’s CNOOC.

The new PSAs cover the EA-1 and Kanywataba licences in the Lake Albert Rift Basin. Tullow has also been awarded the production licence for the Kingfisher field, which is estimated to hold around 300 million barrels of oil.

UK-based Subsea 7 has been awarded a $100 million contract by BP Exploration for work on the Clair Ridge Project, West of Shetland.

The Clair Ridge development will comprise two new bridge-linked platforms to be sited to the north-east of Clair Phase 1.

The contract scope includes the project management, engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of a six kilometre, 22 inch oil export pipeline and a 14 kilometre, 6 inch gas export pipeline connected to the new production facilities and existing Clair Phase 1 export systems.

Logistics company Lynden International has extended its reach with the opening of a new service centre in Belgium, Lynden International (BE).

The new facility will see the company entering the transport and logistics services market catering for Belgium-based medical, pharmaceutical and other growth industries.

The centre will serve the medical and pharmaceutical industries with temperature-controlled shipping and single-point entry departure in and out of Europe, the company said.

Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu has agreed to acquire Inoxum, the stainless steel unit of Germany’s ThyssenKrupp.

The €2.7 billion deal is set to make Outokumpu a market leader in European stainless steel, with almost €12 billion in revenues, more than 19,000 employees and an approximate 50 per cent market share.

Outokumpu already employs around 8,000 people in more than 30 countries and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

Westinghouse Electric Company today announced the signing of an exclusive memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Czech construction company Metrostav, in preparation for the potential construction of nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic.

Alan Swaby looks at one of the largest crane manufacturers in the world—which ironically comes from one of the smallest countries in the world.

Watch any strong man competition and the odds are there will be a Finn in the final. For a country with a population of far less than Greater London, Finland manages to create some of the biggest and strongest specimens in the world.

UK-based Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips to acquire its non-operated interests in the gas and oil producing Statfjord field for £142 million.

Norwegian Air Shuttle has signed an agreement with both Airbus and Boeing for delivery of a total of 222 new aircraft—the largest such deal in European aviation history.

The order includes 100 new Boeing 737 MAX8s and 22 Next-Generation 737-800s, making Norwegian the European launch customer for Boeing’s new aircraft. The Airbus order—Norwegian’s first purchase from the company—includes 100 Airbus A320neos. The orders include additional purchase rights of 150 aircraft from both manufacturers.

The Weir Group PLC has agreed to acquire Novatech LLC, a US manufacturer of well service pump valves and valve seats for upstream oil and gas applications, for $176 million (£113 million) in cash.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Novatech is a family-owned business producing a wide variety of proprietary valves and valve seats for high pressure applications such as frac, cement and mud pumps used in unconventional upstream oil and gas operations.

The business is well known to Weir, being a long standing local supplier to Weir SPM.