Mustang has acquired a majority stake in Latin American automation and control engineering and consulting firm ISI Solutions for an initial consideration of $5.2 million. The company will be rebranded ISI Mustang and will continue to be led by Pedro Santamaria and the existing management team.
FMC Technologies has signed a global alliance agreement with Anadarko Petroleum to provide subsea systems and life-of-field services for its subsea development projects worldwide.
Oceaneering is acquiring IRM, subsea engineering and field operations services provider AGR Field Operations from Norway's AGR Group in a $240 million transaction.
Wärtsilä will acquire marine oil & gas engineering firm Hamworthy in a £383 million cash deal. The merger ‘will allow both organisations to broaden and enhance their capabilities in rapidly evolving offshore and marine applications as well as environmental solutions markets,' Wärtsilä said. The acquisition is expected to close 1Q 2012, pending Hamworthy shareholder approval and clearance from German and Norwegian regulators.
Aker Solutions plans to establish a large engineering office in Tromsø as part of the company's strategy to increase its footprint in the northern regions of Norway. The company is already building up a subsea service base in Hammerfest to support the Goliat subsea field development, and recently acquired the Narvik-based well technology business X3M Invent. It is also considering opening an engineering office in Sandnessjøen to support its modifications and operations services business.
French marine services provider Bourbon has established an new affiliate operation, Bourbon Baltic, in Saint Petersburg to optimize vessel crew recruitment. It is looking to recruit experienced Russian seafarers for its vessels serving the marine and offshore sectors worldwide.
An ABS affiliate has entered into an agreement to acquire risk and asset management specialist Safetec Nordic, whose programs and services are expected to strengthen and expand those of ABS Consulting. ‘The integration of Safetec is directly aligned with our strategic objective to broaden the range of services provided to our offshore customers and to strengthen our presence in Europe, particularly in the North Sea,' said ABS Group CEO Tony Nassif. ‘In addition, Safetec will serve as a platform for further growth in other leading offshore markets.'
Reservoir Group has acquired Mudlogging Services, the US-based developer and supplier of the MLogger series of gas detection systems. Reservoir Group also recently strengthened its completion and production services portfolio with the acquisition of coiled tubing well intervention firms Wellbore Intervention, based in Aberdeen, and The Tool Company, located in Assen, The Netherlands.
Petrofac Training Services and Raytheon Technical Services are partnering to deliver highconsequence training to the offshore oil & gas industry at NASA's Johnson Space Center underwater training facility.
GE Oil & Gas has opened its $100 million technology and learning complex in Jandakot, Western Australia. The biggest complex of its kind in Australia, it will support the development of skills for the oil and gas sector and provide the company's first in-country support and maintenance centre for the upstream industry. GE Oil & Gas expects to deliver 4000 training days in 2012 and has already begun to service its major equipment in country.
Wood Group has launched a new company in Luanda in joint venture with its Angolan business partner Amílcar Nascimento. Wood Group Kianda, through which sister companies Mustang, Kenny and PSN will provide their services, kicks off with a contract from BP for topsides maintenance on an FPSO operating offshore Angola.
Rotating equipment supplier Dresser-Rand has opened a new 8,700ft2 facility in Houston dedicated entirely to training employees and clients to better service equipment in the field.
Classification society RINA expects its recent move to take control of Italian engineering consultancyD'Appolonia to boost group turnover by almost 50% and significantly strengthen its expertise and range of services in the offshore and port development fields. RINA chief executive Ugo Salerno said: ‘By bringing the D'Appolonia Group's 580 multidisciplinary staff and .87 million turnover into RINA we have made a quantum jump in size and capability.'
UK custom flowmeter manufacturer Litre Meter has become part of the US Tasi Group of companies, whose other interests in the flow and control sector include AW Lake, Kem and Tricor.
Aquaterra Energy has opened an office in Cambridge, UK, to develop the riser analysis service the firm has been offering from its Norwich HQ since its inception in 2005. Senior analyst Dr Andrew Lennon heads up the new Cambridge facility.
Faces
CNOOC Ltd has a new CEO, Li Fanrong, following Yang Hua's decision to relinquish the post and devote more time to his role as president of the parent China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Li Fanrong, an engineer, was appointed president of CNOOC Energy Technology & Services in 2009 and president of CNOOC the following year.
Frederic Castrec has taken over as MD of welding specialist Serimax. He replaces David Williams, who continues with the Vallourec subsidiary as a consultant on strategic projects. Castrec joined Serimax in 1996 as a welding engineer, later becoming the firm's COO.
Dr. Nancy Bowers has joined Fugro Gravity & Magnetic Services as senior geophysicist, based in Houston and responsible for gravity and magnetic data sales. Bowers previously owned and operated Subsurface Interpretation Services.
Denis Welch has been appointed CEO of IHC Merwede in Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, he is tasked with reinforcing the Dutch company's regional identity and expanding its Asiancentred operations.
Arnstein Øvsthus becomes general manager of CGGVeritas Eidesvik Ship Management, on 1 February. The joint venture between CGGVeritas and Eidesvik Offshore, dedicated to operating the high-end seismic vessels in the CGGVeritas fleet, is now fully operational. Øvsthus previously worked for GC Rieber Shipping, most recently as COO.
Sarah Taylor (pictured) has joined testing group Exova as a metallurgist in its Sandnes, Norway laboratory. She previously served Global Marine Systems as a consultant metallurgist and prior to that worked for Babcock Marine, MTD and Corus.
John Wishart has been appointed energy director at Lloyd's Register, based in London. He joined Noble Denton as group MD in 2008, later becoming president of GL Noble Denton following the merger with Germanischer Lloyd.
Frode Sedberg has joined Emerson Process Management as regional manager for its Roxar Software Solutions (RSS) division, based in Rio de Janeiro. He was with Odin Petroleum for eight years in various reservoir engineering roles.
Bill Yuile, a 40-year veteran of oil & gas industry contracting, has been appointed business development director of Apply Altra, based in Aberdeen.
Pete Connors has been named as offshore energy global product leader at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and will oversee its offshore business worldwide. He most recently served as president and CEO of Zurich Global Energy, the international arm of Zurich North America's energy operations.
David Ripley has succeeded Brian Kinkead as supply chain director of Oil & Gas UK, the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil & gas industry.
Danny Murray has been appointed to the newly created position of business development manager for the Middle East and North Africa at TWMA, which recently announced plans to set up a base in Dubai. He previously worked for R&M Energy Systems and Varco.
Matt Walsh has been named as American Electric Technologies' VP, South America business development, a newly created role focused on building the company's market share in the Brazilian oil & gas and marine markets. Walsh rejoins the company after a brief stint doing business development consulting for several Canadian drilling and power systems companies.
Vivien Broughton has been appointed VP resources at Senergy, tasked with further strengthening the company's commitment to building and developing its global talent pool. She was previously with Transocean for 15 years.
Peter Saunders has become general manager of Aberdeenbased XPD8. He previously served in a project management and business improvement role with Petrofac and as a consultant to Petrotechnics. Ian Cooper has joined XPD8 from PSN and takes up the role of maintenance engineering manager.
Bruno Santos Pinton has been named as McCrometer's regional sales manager for Brazil. He joins the company from Atlas Copco, where he was key account sales representative for oil & gas in Brazil.
Wendy Simpson has been appointed sales & marketing manager for Cutting Underwater Technologies, based at its Aberdeen HQ. She brings with her 18 years' oil & gas industry experience.
Ben Webster and Robbie Blakeman have joined offshore engineering firm Osbit Power as sales & marketing manager and senior engineer, respectively.
Vikas Shangari has joined Stats Group as BDM for the Middle East. He was previously Qatar country manager for Hydratight. Aberdeen-based Stats is in the process of establishing a business unit in Doha, Qatar, and a branch in the UAE.
Scott McMillan has been appointed MD of CLS Offshore, the Great Yarmouth, UK-based energy sector service company he joined at the start of last year. He was previously eastern hemisphere GM for Shaw Pipeline Services.
Rami Miled has been appointed HB Rentals' BDM for the Middle East and North Africa, based between the company's facilities in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
SLICK INNOVATION: (Top picture) The European Chapter of the Intervention & Coiled Tubing Association(ICoTA) recently presented is Innovation Award to Schlumberger Slickline's global perforating and remedial services domain champion, Matthew Billingham, in recognition of the company's application of technical innovation in well intervention and in particular its LIVE Digital Slickline Service. Billingham is pictured receiving the award from ICoTA Europe chairman Rob Grassick.
RENTED ACCOMMODATION: (Top picture) The Ferguson Group has established a new, purpose-built base in Perth, Western Australia, for its range of rental offshore containers and accommodation and engineering modules. The yard and office facilities have been designed specifically to meet the Asia-Pacific region needs of Ferguson Seacabs, Ferguson Modular and IceBlue Refrigeration Offshore. Seacabs mudskip units are pictured arriving in Dampier.
ALL RHODES LEAD TO . . .: (Left) Susan Cunningham , SVP worldwide exploration at Noble Energy, received the Rhodes Petroleum Industry Leadership Award in Houston last month. It was one of six awards presented by the Petroleum Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME ) in recognition of outstanding technical contributions and exemplary leadership in the petroleum field. The other awards went to Paul Jukes, president of MCS Kenny, Houston; John Khachaturian, the founder of Versabar; Dr Jeff Hanson, a professor of engineering at Texas Tech University; Keith Ogdee, an engineering manager with Marathon Oil, and Shell's Parque das Conchas (BC-10) ultra-deepwater heavy oil development offshore Brazil.
HALL OF FAME: Jim Milne, founder, chairman and MD of Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group, was inducted into the Entrepreneurial Exchange's ‘Hall of Fame' at a ceremony in Glasgow last month.
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