Yard Cuts First Steel for Cygnus Jackets

A Scottish fabrication yard has started work on a North Sea gas field development which will create at least 165 jobs north of the border.

Workers at Burntisland Fabrication's (BiFab) Methil site cut the first steel yesterday for the jackets to be used at GDF Suez's $2.1 billion (£1.4 billion) Cygnus development.

BiFab said it would create 115 jobs in Fife to help manufacture the four jackets, worth a combined $73.1 million (£47 million).

The fabrication company's Lewis site is also expected to benefit from the project, while GDF Suez said it would create 50 posts in Aberdeen to support Cygnus.

Along with partners Centrica Energy and Bayerngas, GDF Suez expects to create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase of Cygnus's development.

BiFab said it would deliver three of the jackets in April next year, with the final one being completed 12 months later.

GDF Suez Exploration and Production UK managing director Jean-Claude Perdigues said: "Today's cutting of first steel for the Cygnus jackets marks another important project milestone, securing and creating jobs in Scotland for the next two years."

Centrica Energy Upstream's southern North Sea director Greg McKenna described investment at Cygnus as "critical" to unlocking the basin and securing gas for the company's UK customers.

BiFab managing director John Robertson said: "The award of this project has allowed us to recruit 15 additional apprentices for our operations at Methil and Burntisland, and continue to grow as a major manufacturer of topsides and jackets for the North Sea energy sector."

The first steel has already been cut for the 1,600-tonne Cygnus Alpha wellhead platform, which is being built by Heerema Fabrication Group's yard in Hartlepool.

Cygnus - the largest gas find in the southern North Sea for 25 years - is 93 miles offshore and holds 635 billion cubic feet of proved and probable reserves, with first gas expected at the end of 2015.

Copyright 2013 Aberdeen Journals Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Samsung Heavy Cuts First Steel for Ichthys LNG Semisub

Inpex revealed Friday that Ichthys LNG is on track to deliver first gas by year-end 2016, with the first steel cutting of the project’s semisubmersible platform conducted by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea Friday.

The 492-foot by 361-foot (150 meter by 110 meter) large central processing facility (CPF) will displace 140,000 tonnes and have a peak gas export rate of 1,657 million standard cubic feet per day, making the semisub platform the largest of its kind.

"This is one of the most exciting parts of the project – the first materialization of what has been many years of hard work; it's when the design comes to life," Inpex's President Director Australia Seiya Ito said in a statement.

The platform's hull will be moored by 28 anchor chains weighing more than 25,000 tonnes, while the project's floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel will be moored by an additional 15,000 tonnes of anchor chain.

"The total represents more than the yearly worldwide production of large-scale anchor chains," Inpex noted in its disclosure.

Spain's Vicinay is the sole supplier of anchor chains for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) Project.

Earlier in the week, the first steel plates of the FPSO vessel's turret were cut in Singapore.

"This is a momentous week for the Ichthys LNG project as it takes its first big step towards reaching its goal of watching the facilities sail from [South Korea] to Australia in late 2015," Ito remarked.

The development plan for Ichthys includes several subsea wells tied-back to the CPF and the FPSO for condensate. A 528-mile (850-kilometer) subsea pipeline will be constructed to transport the gas to a LNG processing plant in Blaydin Point, Darwin.

Onshore installations consist of two LNG trains with a capacity of 4.2 million tonnes per year each and facilities for the extraction and the export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate. In addition to its LNG production, the Ichthys project is expected to generate 1.6 million tonnes per year of LPG and 100,000 barrels of condensate a day at peak.

The entire annual production of LNG from Ichthys LNG (8.4 million tons per year) has already been sold for 15 years under oil-linked price contracts, mostly directed to third-party consortiums of Taiwanese and Japanese buyers.

Ichthys is operated by Inpex with a 66.07 percent interest. The remaining stakes are held by Total (30 percent), Tokyo Gas (1.575 percent), Osaka Gas (1.200 percent), Chubu Electric (0.735 percent) and Toho Gas (0.420 percent).

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

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Samsung Heavy Cuts First Steel for Ichthys LNG Semisub

Inpex revealed Friday that Ichthys LNG is on track to deliver first gas by year-end 2016, with the first steel cutting of the project’s semisubmersible platform conducted by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea Friday.

The 492-foot by 361-foot (150 meter by 110 meter) large central processing facility (CPF) will displace 140,000 tonnes and have a peak gas export rate of 1,657 million standard cubic feet per day, making the semisub platform the largest of its kind.

"This is one of the most exciting parts of the project – the first materialization of what has been many years of hard work; it's when the design comes to life," Inpex's President Director Australia Seiya Ito said in a statement.

The platform's hull will be moored by 28 anchor chains weighing more than 25,000 tonnes, while the project's floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel will be moored by an additional 15,000 tonnes of anchor chain.

"The total represents more than the yearly worldwide production of large-scale anchor chains," Inpex noted in its disclosure.

Spain's Vicinay is the sole supplier of anchor chains for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) Project.

Earlier in the week, the first steel plates of the FPSO vessel's turret were cut in Singapore.

"This is a momentous week for the Ichthys LNG project as it takes its first big step towards reaching its goal of watching the facilities sail from [South Korea] to Australia in late 2015," Ito remarked.

The development plan for Ichthys includes several subsea wells tied-back to the CPF and the FPSO for condensate. A 528-mile (850-kilometer) subsea pipeline will be constructed to transport the gas to a LNG processing plant in Blaydin Point, Darwin.

Onshore installations consist of two LNG trains with a capacity of 4.2 million tonnes per year each and facilities for the extraction and the export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate. In addition to its LNG production, the Ichthys project is expected to generate 1.6 million tonnes per year of LPG and 100,000 barrels of condensate a day at peak.

The entire annual production of LNG from Ichthys LNG (8.4 million tons per year) has already been sold for 15 years under oil-linked price contracts, mostly directed to third-party consortiums of Taiwanese and Japanese buyers.

Ichthys is operated by Inpex with a 66.07 percent interest. The remaining stakes are held by Total (30 percent), Tokyo Gas (1.575 percent), Osaka Gas (1.200 percent), Chubu Electric (0.735 percent) and Toho Gas (0.420 percent).

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Centennial man convicted of theft in steel building sales

Font ResizeLocal NewsThe Denver Postdenverpost.comPosted: 12/21/2012 05:08:34 PM MSTDecember 22, 2012 12:23 AM GMTUpdated: 12/21/2012 05:23:37 PM MST

A man who took money for steel buildings and kits he never built, and then took the money to the casinos was convicted of three counts of theft Friday.

Brent Evan Widdifield, 42, of Centennial, would advertise the sale of the steel buildings from "Action Steel Buildings" in local newspapers and across the internet.

He collected more than $300,000 from 42 people across 14 states. Thirty-two of them testified at the Jefferson County trial.

After posting bond for the original theft counts earlier this year, Widdifield went on to solicit and accept money from more victims, leading to third theft charge, and a charge for a violation of bail bond conditions.

The jury also found Widdifield guilty of that bond violation.

District Attorney Scott Storey thanked the Lakewood Police Department and his economic crime unit for investigating the case.

"These crimes impacted victims throughout the country," Storey said in a released statement. "I am pleased that justice was achieved in this trial."

Widdifield is scheduled for sentencing at 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 28.

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The Demand for Energy and Steel

There’s a good story going on in Lorain, Ohio, a steel town that has seen ups and downs. Thanks to the surge in production of energy from shale in neighboring Pennsylvania, the current trend is decidedly up.

John Wilkinson, who manages U.S. Steel’s Lorain tubular operations facility that makes steel pipe, says good years (2007-08) were followed by the economic downturn in 2009. Layoffs were ordered. Shale has played a big role in turning things around, building demand for steel products including casings to line wells and extraction tubing. Wilkinson:

“Now with the upturn in the economy, the things we’re seeing from the Marcellus Shale and the increase in production, we’ve had the opportunity to recall almost all of those people and actually hire an additional 300 people in the last 18 months.”

Check out this video for a sense of the hope and opportunity that’s come to Lorain through the shale/hydraulic fracturing revolution:

It’s not just one community or one company. Shale plays around the country are generating energy, jobs and economic growth.

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Energy From Shale: Re-Energizing the Steel Industry

During a tour of U.S. Steel’s tubular operations facility in Lorain, Ohio, earlier this week, Sen. Rob Portman was able to see, first hand, the way energy from shale is helping lift a key part of the manufacturing sector.

Actually, the relationship between energy and steel manufacturing has mutual benefits. Developing energy in the Utica and Marcellus shale plays of Ohio and Pennsylvania requires vast amounts of quality steel for the best well casings. So, U.S. Steel and other materials suppliers essentially are helping generate demand for their own products.

In Lorain, the Chronicle-Telegram reports that U.S. Steel recently commissioned a tubular finishing line, reflecting a $100 million investment. The line makes seamless steel pipe for construction and oil and natural gas exploration and employs 120 workers. “What’s happening here is we’re producing a product that’s going to be used to create more energy here in America,” Portman said.

The chief obstacle to sustained success? Over-regulation. Portman said Ohio has a good regulatory regime in place for oil and natural gas development, but he’s concerned there might be attempts to add on a layer of unnecessary federal regulation:

“Let’s not do what the EPA has done in regard to other areas, including refineries around the country, and over-regulate, which makes America a place where you can’t compete, and which drives jobs offshore. … A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t going to work.”

Agreed. The economic benefits of shale energy are being realized in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Texas and other states. Jobs are being created and long-suffering industries like steel are seeing new life. Here’s a new television commercial that captures the essence of what’s happening:

For more information, visit Energy From Shale.

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