Energy

In 10 years, Al Suwaidi Equipment and Transport Company Limited has grown from being a basic equipment rental company into a major league player in the equipment services and engineered heavy lift arena for the petrochemical and hydrocarbon markets in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East—and by forming smart alliances, it is now active throughout the region wherever heavy lifting is required.

Two new power stations that will convert landfill gas to electricity are to be installed at Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of a green power initiative by the US Department of Defense.

Irvine, California-based FlexEnergy will deliver two of its Powerstation units to Fort Benning in collaboration with Southern Research Institute (SRI) through the DoD's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTC).

Ohio has emerged as the No.1 state in the US Midwest for advanced energy manufacturing, according to a report published today by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC).

"Renewable energy is one of the fastest-growing business sectors for job creation" in Ohio, the ELPC report notes, and the increasing demand for wind turbines places it behind only California in terms of job growth.

Mozambique has emerged from the hardships of civil war to become a fast-developing economic nation. That growth is hugely dependent on electricity; and this has put pressure on national supplier Electricidade de Moçambique to expand, as Carlos Yum, director of the Corporate Performance unit and Business Development, explains to Andrew Pelis.

Royal Dutch Shell is receiving bids for stakes in four of its Nigerian oil fields, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Companies bidding include Essar, Afren and Perenco, said the report. Essar is bidding with Nigeria’s Energy Equity Resources, and French company Perenco has teamed up with Switzerland’s Addax & Oryx Group and Oando. The UK’s Heritage Oil is also said to be bidding alongside the Nigerian contractor Shoreline Energy International.

Private equity firms are also thought to have expressed interest in the stakes.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Co., is to take control of Cia. Espanola de Petroleos SA, Spain’s second-largest oil company, by buying out shareholder Total.

The deal, worth €3.97 billion, will see IPIC buy Total’s 48.8 per cent stake and purchase the remaining Cepsa stock at €28 a share. IPIC already holds 47 per cent in the Spanish company.

GE has entered an agreement with international energy services company Wood Group to acquire its Well Support Division for $2.8 billion.

Wood Group's Well Support division comprises three business platforms: ESP (electric submersible pumps), Pressure Control (surface wellhead and flow control systems) and Logging Services (wireline logging).

Tullow Oil has announced a new discovery of oil and gas offshore Ghana, close to the Jubilee Field.

The company said it discovered 73 metres of net hydrocarbons in the field, in which it has a 22.896 per cent stake. The well is located in the West Cape Three Points licence, outside the Jubilee unit boundary.

Siemens Energy, Inc. has been awarded a contract for gas-insulated transmission lines by Northeast Utilities as part of the New England East-West Solution (NEEWS).

Siemens will produce 115 kV and 345 kV gas-insulated transmission lines (GILT) for the Agawam (Massachusetts) and North Bloomfield (Connecticut) substation additions as part of the Greater Springfield Reliability Project, one of four major transmission projects comprising the New England East-West Solution.

UK oil company Ensco is buying its US rival Pride International for around £4.5 billion in a deal that will create the world's second largest offshore oil and gas driller.