Paradigm BV,
Amsterdam, has appointed Richard H. Ward regional vice-president, China. As regional vice-president, Ward manages and develops business and marketing strategies targeting the needs of oil and gas E&P interests in China. Located in Beijing, he reports directly to Jorge Machnizh, president and chief operating officer at Paradigm. Ward joins Paradigm with over 35 years of global business development experience in the energy industry. He has held various executive positions with BGP Ltd., serving as a marketing consultant at its headquarters in Zhuozhou, China, and as vice-president of business development in Houston. At BGP, he was also responsible for strategic advising on marine and land seismic opportunities worldwide. Ward previously served on the company’s merger and acquisition team, developed joint venture strategy for the Middle East, and introduced the company to opportunities in South America. Prior to that, he held positions with Landmark Graphics, YPF SA, Veritas Geophysical, and Western Geophysical. He has worked extensively in international business development for public and private companies in the US, China, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Canada, and the Middle East. Ward attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where he earned a BS in geology.
Paradigm provides solutions for digital subsurface asset management, serving oil and gas companies worldwide.
Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT),
Houston, has entered into a collaboration with NVIDIA Corp. to improve the performance of SMT Kingdom software using NVIDIA Quadro graphics cards. The integration of NVIDIA technology with SMT’s software provides comprehensive new workflows that allow novice and experienced users to quickly and efficiently model the subsurface. In addition, the agreement gives SMT customers access to NVIDIA CUDA technology, an award-winning C-compiler and software development kit that allows software developers to tap into the parallel architecture of the GPU. By running CUDA on Quadro professional solutions, developers have the ability to process and visualize large amounts of geoscientific data in real time, instead of minutes or hours.
SMT develops and markets Windows-based geoscientific interpretation software.
NVIDIA provides visual computing technologies.
IDS,
London, has signed a contract with Premier Oil’s group drilling division to implement its new IDS DataNet2 rich internet applications. A 3-year global services contract, it is an extension of an existing contract with Premier, which IDS has held since 1998. From DataNet2, the Premier contract is focused initially on DrillNet (drilling reporting services) and GeoNet (geological reporting services). Premier is also currently reviewing StockNet, the IDS inventory and asset management services product, in its Vietnam operations. In addition, Premier has options on three additional Datanet2 products: ProNet, for completions reporting; SafeNet, which focuses on the environmental and HSE aspects of drilling; and VisNet, for data visualization and analysis. These stand-alone yet complementary IDS products are all rich internet applications.
IDS provides intuitive end-to-end, web-delivered, upstream reporting services, with full support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Fugro,
Leidschendam, the Netherlands, has created Fugro Gravity & Magnetic Services (FGMS) to market its worldwide gravity and magnetic capabilities for oil and gas exploration and production. FGMS is the business development arm of Fugro Airborne Surveys, Fugro Ground Geophysics, and Fugro Robertson (marine). It will provide the oil and gas industry with a full spectrum of potential field tools, including technologies such as FALCON airborne gravity gradiometry and Fugro-LCT Software and tying together the whole spectrum of gravity and magnetic services: data acquisition and processing, interpretation, multiclient offerings, and software for marine, land, and airborne applications.
Fugro provides advanced surveying, seismic, oceanographic, meteorological, and positioning services and interprets and processes data collected at sea, on land and from the air.
Mustang Engineering,
Houston, has launched a synthesis gas business line (SynGas) within its midstream business unit. Mustang provides conceptual, front-end engineering, detail engineering, procurement, and construction management services for its SynGas projects. In addition, Mustang provides program development and project management, assisting its clients in developing projects, from front-end engineering studies through commissioning and start-up. Mustang’s midstream business unit provides services in other business lines: LNG regasification, liquefaction, and gas processing, as well as offering a suite of proprietary LNG Smart technologies.
Mustang, a subsidiary of John Wood Group PLC, is an independent services provider to the global oil, gas, chemical, and manufacturing industries. The company specializes in design, engineering, procurement, project management, and construction management and offers these services through its six business units: upstream oil and gas, midstream, pipeline, automation and control, refining and petrochemicals, and process and industrial.
Baker Oil Tools,
Houston, has installed more than 2 million ft of its EQUALIZER inflow control completion systems to achieve successful production rates in horizontal wells in more than 20 oil and gas fields around the world. Since its worldwide introduction in 1998, the EQUALIZER system has attained individual lateral installation lengths of more than 13,000 ft. The system is applicable for a variety of wellbore conditions, including those that require viscous fluid, kill pill cleanup, or multiphase flow.
Baker Oil Tools is a world leader in well completion and intervention solutions. It is a division of Baker Hughes, which provides reservoir consulting, drilling, formation evaluation, completion, and production products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry.
Expro,
Reading, UK, has agreed to acquire the oil and gas metering business of Connecticut-based CiDRA Corp. for $60.5 million cash. The acquisition will form the basis for a new business to be called Expro Meters. Expro Meters will develop, manufacture and sell a range of flow meters for the oil and gas market, in addition to providing production testing services on a rental basis. It will enable Expro to take ownership of a range of proprietary flow meter technology that is based on nonintrusive flow measurement of wet gas and bubbly liquids and that features a nonintrusive, clamp-on design that enables the flow meters to be deployed on new or existing installations, lowering technical risks and operating costs associated with flow measurement.
In addition, Expro has announced that its acquisition by the private equity consortium Umbrellastream has been completed. Expro accepted Umbrellastream’s offer of £1.8 billion in June after rejecting a takeover bid from Halliburton.
Expro is a market leader in providing services and products that measure, improve, control, and process flow from high-value oil and gas wells.
Baker Botts LLP,
Houston, has added Kevin Keenan as a partner in its global projects department. He will be based in Houston. Keenan, whose energy practice focuses on LNG projects and transactions, also has extensive experience in public and private project developments, including petroleum refineries, offshore marine terminals, and pipeline construction. He has represented clients in a variety of negotiations for energy resources, such as biodiesel, crude oil, crude oil products, natural gas, and LNG. His expertise in LNG ranges from infrastructure development to the various aspects of shipping that are central to the industry, including shipbuilding and charter negotiations. Prior to joining Baker Botts, Keenan was a partner with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in London and Houston. He is a member of the Houston Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, and the American Bar Association’s Environment, Energy and Resources Section. Keenan received a BA in history and political science from Idaho State University and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Baker Botts is a leading international law firm with offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Riyadh, Washington, DC, and Palo Alto, Calif.
Schlumberger,
Houston, has recently acquired three oil field service companies.
Schlumberger has acquired Staag Imaging LP, a Houston-based provider of leading-edge depth imaging technologies for seismic data processing. Staag, which will become part of the Schlumberger WesternGeco business unit, is one of the first providers of a commercial full waveform inversion (FWI) technique. Staag’s FWI is an automatic, data-driven tool that uses the two-way wave equation method to build highly accurate velocity models of the subsurface, including complex geology formations such as salt bodies. This FWI technology can automate a large part of the velocity model building workflow. The accurate models it produces can then be used to exploit the power of WesternGeco’s complementary high-resolution reverse time migration capability.
Schlumberger also has acquired the business of Extreme Engineering Ltd., a Calgary-based supplier of unmanned measurement-while-drilling (MWD) systems from its founders and investors that include the Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1 BV managed by Kenda Capital BV. Extreme’s MWD systems will complement Schlumberger’s PowerDrive rotary-steerable drilling systems. The goal in 2009 will be to expand Extreme’s technologies to regions outside North America. Extreme Engineering, which will continue to operate under its own brand, maintains major operational bases in Calgary, Denver, and Fort Worth, backed by engineering and manufacturing facilities in Calgary.
In addition, Schlumberger has acquired IES Integrated Exploration Systems, an Aachen, Germany-based supplier of advanced petroleum systems modeling software and services for the E&P industry. IES specializes in modeling the generation, migration, and entrapment of oil and gas using its PetroMod software. This technology is used to estimate undiscovered hydrocarbons in frontier basins and to enable oil and gas companies to mitigate risk in exploration prospects. The Aachen location will become a Schlumberger Center of Excellence for Petroleum Systems Modeling.
Schlumberger is the world’s leading oil field services company, supplying technology, integrated project management and information solutions that optimize performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry.
Cameron,
Houston, has acquired the DynaTorque line of products and services from Hines Corp., Spring Lake, Mich. The products will be offered through Cameron’s flow control division, part of the company’s drilling and production systems group. DynaTorque designs, manufactures, markets, and sells manual gear operators, overrides, components, accessories, and specialty products, including mechanical partial stroke test devices, for use with valves, actuators, and dampers. The company has a manufacturing plant in Muskegon, Mich.
Cameron is a leading provider of flow equipment products, systems, and services to worldwide oil, gas, and process industries.
Data-Linc,
Bellevue, Wash., has appointed Ren Ding sales representative in China. He will be based in Beijing. Ren brings to Data-Linc 5 years of sales experience in automation products and systems with a strong background in account development and distributor management. He served as a sales engineer with Mitsubishi Electric and most recently as an account manager for Rockwell Automation. During his career he has worked closely with heavy industry applications, including metal, mining, port, manufacturing, and factory and machinery control, among others. Ren graduated from Beijing University of Chemical Technology (China) with a BS in automation and a minor in PC theory, PLCs, and programming languages.
Data-Linc is a leading provider of industrial data communication solutions, designing and manufacturing high-performance modems for a broad range of industrial applications.
Honeywell’s
Phoenix-based Process Solutions business has recognized industrial control providers Wilson-Mohr and AC Controls Co. Inc. as its 2007 Distributors of the Year. These recognitions mark the first time Honeywell has honored two companies with the award, which is given annually to the company’s top-performing US distributor that demonstrates significant growth in product lines and overall sales.
Sugarland, Tex.-based Wilson-Mohr is a leading products and services provider to several process industries, including chemical, oil and gas, petrochemical, utility, and pulp and paper. The company is certified on Honeywell’s complete product line from distributed control system (DCS) equipment to field instruments.
AC Controls, based in Charlotte, N.C., provides integration services and combustion and process control systems and distributes instrumentation controls to manufacturers in the Southeastern US. Additionally, it owns and operates one of the region’s largest valve automation centers and employs an ongoing training program to ensure technical service providers stay abreast of the latest technological advancements.
Honeywell International, Morris Township, N.J., is a diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials.
UOP LLC,
Des Plaines, Ill., has opened its new UOP Engineering Design Center in Houston. The new facility expands key engineering resources, allowing UOP to better support petroleum refiners and petrochemical producers located in the region. The new design center will include process and project design engineering expertise. The office is currently hiring experienced design engineers and was expected to be fully functional at the end of July.
In addition, UOP has formed an alliance with Rentech Inc. to jointly offer technology for the production of clean fuels, specialty waxes, and chemicals. The nonexclusive agreement between UOP and Rentech will provide a one-stop solution for refiners, petrochemicals, and synthetic fuel producers to convert synthesis gas to ultraclean fuels, specialty waxes and chemicals. The offering aligns Rentech’s process to convert synthesis gas from biomass and fossil resources and hydrocarbons with UOP’s hydrocracking and hydrotreating processes that process and upgrade hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals. The Rentech process utilizes an iron-based catalyst to convert synthesis gas into ultraclean hydrocarbons.
UOP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell, is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries.
FMC Technologies Inc.,
Houston, has promoted Jay A. Nutt to controller. He previously served as FMC’s assistant corporate controller. Nutt began his career with FMC Corp. in 1987. During his 21-year career, he has progressed through a number of positions of increasing responsibility. In 2001, following FMC Corp.’s spin-off of FMC Technologies, he was named division controller of Energy Production Systems. He advanced to controller of Energy Systems in 2007 and assumed his current responsibilities in January 2008. Nutt has a BS in accounting from Michigan State University and an MBA from Loyola University.
FMC Technologies designs, manufactures, and services subsea production and processing systems, surface wellhead systems, high-pressure fluid control equipment, measurement solutions, and marine loading systems for the oil and gas industry.
DO2 Technologies Inc.,
Calgary, has licensed its OpenInvoice electronic invoicing platform to Black Hills Production & Exploration Inc. to automate and enhance the company’s accounts payable reconciliation and approval processes. The unit of Rapid City, S.D.-based Black Hills Corp. has oil and gas operations in Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. The multiyear license agreement with DO2 Technologies provides electronic invoicing solutions to increase invoice processing accuracy and enhance the capture of early payment discounts. Black Hills expects to reduce invoice processing and data storage costs as a result of efficiencies gained through electronic routing/approval and elimination of paper documents.
DO2 Technologies is a leading global provider of electronic-invoicing software solutions that enable buyers and suppliers to automate shared financial processes.
