India Clears Projects Worth Billions of Dollars

NEW DELHI - An Indian ministerial panel on Monday approved 25 oil and gas and 13 power projects involving investments worth billions of dollars as part of its efforts to boost economic growth.

These are among the many projects in India which are facing delays due to bureaucratic red-tape, creating an obstacle to growth in an economy expanding at its weakest pace in a decade. In December, the government set up the Cabinet Committee on Investments, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to fast-track industrial and infrastructure projects.

In a meeting held late Monday, the panel approved 25 oil and gas exploration projects. The defense ministry had objected to these projects due to their proximity to naval bases, missile firing ranges and other defense locations.

Fresh investment of $1.9 billion will now be made over the next three to five years in these 25 projects, the government said in a statement. Investments of $2.71 billion have already been made in them, it added.

The panel also reviewed 20 power projects and approved 13 of them involving investments of 330 billion rupees ($6.1 billion), the government said. These include transmission networks as well as hydroelectric and thermal-power projects which needed clearances mainly from the environment ministry.

The remaining seven power projects involving investments of 320 billion rupees still haven't been cleared. These are facing delays over land acquisition, fuel supply and environmental clearances, the minister said.

The Cabinet Committee on Investments has cleared several large projects in recent months, although many more still need urgent attention. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently said as many as 215 projects involving investments of 7 trillion rupees were facing delays.

Meanwhile, a separate cabinet panel Monday decided against allowing Coal India Ltd. to blend local and imported coal to meet its supply shortfall.

Blending of local and imported coal would have increased costs for power producers which source the fuel from the state-run monopoly supplier.

Saurabh Chaturvedi also contributed to this article.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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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India Clears Projects Worth Billions of Dollars

NEW DELHI - An Indian ministerial panel on Monday approved 25 oil and gas and 13 power projects involving investments worth billions of dollars as part of its efforts to boost economic growth.

These are among the many projects in India which are facing delays due to bureaucratic red-tape, creating an obstacle to growth in an economy expanding at its weakest pace in a decade. In December, the government set up the Cabinet Committee on Investments, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to fast-track industrial and infrastructure projects.

In a meeting held late Monday, the panel approved 25 oil and gas exploration projects. The defense ministry had objected to these projects due to their proximity to naval bases, missile firing ranges and other defense locations.

Fresh investment of $1.9 billion will now be made over the next three to five years in these 25 projects, the government said in a statement. Investments of $2.71 billion have already been made in them, it added.

The panel also reviewed 20 power projects and approved 13 of them involving investments of 330 billion rupees ($6.1 billion), the government said. These include transmission networks as well as hydroelectric and thermal-power projects which needed clearances mainly from the environment ministry.

The remaining seven power projects involving investments of 320 billion rupees still haven't been cleared. These are facing delays over land acquisition, fuel supply and environmental clearances, the minister said.

The Cabinet Committee on Investments has cleared several large projects in recent months, although many more still need urgent attention. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently said as many as 215 projects involving investments of 7 trillion rupees were facing delays.

Meanwhile, a separate cabinet panel Monday decided against allowing Coal India Ltd. to blend local and imported coal to meet its supply shortfall.

Blending of local and imported coal would have increased costs for power producers which source the fuel from the state-run monopoly supplier.

Saurabh Chaturvedi also contributed to this article.

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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.

View the original article here

ABB Bags $160M Worth of Electrical Systems for Drillship Orders in Brazil

ABB disclosed Friday that it has won orders worth $160 million from Jurong Shipyard for the design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning of the main electrical systems for seven next generation drill ships that will operate in the deep water oil and gas fields off the coast of Brazil. The orders were booked in 4Q 2012 and 1Q 2013.

The ships will be used to drill wells in the enormous offshore pre-salt fields off the southeast coast of Brazil. ABB's integrated electrical package will provide a reliable power supply to subsystems onboard ships and help the operators maximize their energy efficiencies.

 The seven vessels are the first in a series of high-efficiency drill ships designed for ultra-deep water operations and built by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz at their shipyard on the central eastern coast of Espirito Santo, Brazil. It is a wholly-owned shipyard of the Jurong Shipyard based in Singapore.

"ABB's ability to provide locally produced content for this project and the expertise of our local organization were important factors in winning this order. This represents a breakthrough for ABB in the Brazilian market," said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, Head of ABB’s Process Automation division.

"ABB has a great record of project execution for similar projects with Jurong’s shipyard in Singapore; the trust achieved over time with the shipyard was crucial for us in closing this agreement," added Haider Rashid, region manager for ABB in South Asia and country manager of Singapore.

ABB's scope of supply includes complete electrical systems including generators, distribution switchboards, transformers, drives and motors to power the ships' thrusters and drilling systems. Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for this year, with the first vessel to be delivered to the ship-owner in the second quarter of 2015.

Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for 2013, with the first vessel to be delivered to the ship-owner in the second quarter of 2015.

The ships will be delivered to Sete Brazil, a company established in 2010 by various Brazilian and international investors. On delivery, the seven drill-ships will be chartered to Petrobras for 15 years. Three of the ships will be partially owned and operated for Petrobas by Odfjell and three by Seadrill, both Norwegian based companies.

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.

View the original article here

ABB Bags $160M Worth of Electrical Systems for Drillship Orders in Brazil

ABB disclosed Friday that it has won orders worth $160 million from Jurong Shipyard for the design, supply, supervision of installation, testing and commissioning of the main electrical systems for seven next generation drill ships that will operate in the deep water oil and gas fields off the coast of Brazil. The orders were booked in 4Q 2012 and 1Q 2013.

The ships will be used to drill wells in the enormous offshore pre-salt fields off the southeast coast of Brazil. ABB's integrated electrical package will provide a reliable power supply to subsystems onboard ships and help the operators maximize their energy efficiencies.

 The seven vessels are the first in a series of high-efficiency drill ships designed for ultra-deep water operations and built by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz at their shipyard on the central eastern coast of Espirito Santo, Brazil. It is a wholly-owned shipyard of the Jurong Shipyard based in Singapore.

"ABB's ability to provide locally produced content for this project and the expertise of our local organization were important factors in winning this order. This represents a breakthrough for ABB in the Brazilian market," said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, Head of ABB’s Process Automation division.

"ABB has a great record of project execution for similar projects with Jurong’s shipyard in Singapore; the trust achieved over time with the shipyard was crucial for us in closing this agreement," added Haider Rashid, region manager for ABB in South Asia and country manager of Singapore.

ABB's scope of supply includes complete electrical systems including generators, distribution switchboards, transformers, drives and motors to power the ships' thrusters and drilling systems. Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for this year, with the first vessel to be delivered to the ship-owner in the second quarter of 2015.

Equipment deliveries to the shipyard are scheduled for 2013, with the first vessel to be delivered to the ship-owner in the second quarter of 2015.

The ships will be delivered to Sete Brazil, a company established in 2010 by various Brazilian and international investors. On delivery, the seven drill-ships will be chartered to Petrobras for 15 years. Three of the ships will be partially owned and operated for Petrobas by Odfjell and three by Seadrill, both Norwegian based companies.

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.

View the original article here