The worldwide Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) market reflects the impact of new technology on SCADA components and cost- effective communications for both data and knowledge transfer. Today’s SCADA systems offer a new generation of technology components that are easier to integrate and provide improved capabilities and functionalities. After weathering the effects of the 2008-2009 global recession, the market has rebounded strongly, growing at high single- and low double-digit rates. As demand for oil recovers and funding is freed up, project activity can be expected to return to robust levels in coming years, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

A number of significant factors are driving the worldwide SCADA market in the oil and gas industry. These include the continuing worldwide demand for additional energy from carbon-based fuels, the shifting of exploration and production locations to more remote and hostile environments, and end user requirements to link SCADA to information technology and business systems. Operating companies are placing an increasing emphasis on vendor services over the entire value chain and asset lifecycle and are looking for additional functionalities in application software. “SCADA systems, together with advanced applications, improve visibility and the performance of geographically dispersed assets, and form the basis for real-time performance management of production and pipeline assets,” according to Senior Analyst Allen Avery, the principal author of ARC’s “SCADA Systems for the Oil & Gas Industry Worldwide Outlook”.

The Expanding Role of SCADA in the Enterprise

SCADA suppliers are offering more flexible hardware with added intelligence and emphasizing total solutions by coupling their hardware and software with service packages. Traditional SCADA suppliers are introducing new and innovative product features and helping clients develop migration planning programs. Suppliers are also offering a wider range of web-enabled advanced applications and packaged solutions, particularly for users seeking to integrate SCADA with business and enterprise level applications and supply chains. Beyond its traditional role of data gathering and control, the value of SCADA systems is being enhanced with the addition of applications that enable business intelligence, giving users better insight into the economics of their operations, the ability to better validate nominations and pipeline allocations, and tools to track carbon emissions to help comply with environmental regulations.

Emerging Markets Driving Growth

North America is the largest single market, accounting for slightly under a half of all shipments, and showed strong growth between 2010 and 2011, as pipeline activity continued to move at a brisk pace, and pipeline operators sought to update their systems to take full advantage of the functionalities of modern SCADA systems. EMEA, the second largest segment, saw more modest growth during the same period, due to a drop in activity in Western Europe. The market focus continues to shift to the developing regions of the world, where numerous major Greenfield energy projects are occurring at a pace that exceeds that of the developed regions. Asia, led by China, posted strong growth in project activity during 2010, and will continue to drive growth going forward.

For more information on this study, please visit our Market Research section from ARC.

Technip has been awarded by Murphy Exploration & Production Company – USA a lump sum contract for the development of the Dalmatian field, located in the Gulf of Mexico, at a water depth ranging from 530 to 1,800 meters. This field, jointly owned by Murphy and Ecopetrol America Inc., is comprised of the De Soto Canyon Blocks 4, 47, 48 and 91.

The project consists of a subsea tie-back to an existing Gulf of Mexico platform.

The contract covers:

• project management, engineering, fabrication and installation of a gas riser(1), an oil riser, a 38-kilometer flowline(2) and a 34-kilometer pipe-in-pipe flowline with associated PLETs(3) and jumpers(4),
• installation of a main subsea control umbilical(5), infield umbilical, and associated foundation and flying leads,
• pre-commissioning.

Technip's operating center in Houston, Texas will perform the overall project management. The flowlines and risers will be welded at the Group’s spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama.

KBR (NYSE: KBR) has announced today that it was awarded a contract by Statoil Tanzania AS (Statoil) to perform pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) studies for a prospective liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Tanzania, East Africa.

The pre-FEED study is designed to help Statoil further assess the viability of developing an LNG facility to export natural gas from this East African region. The project is expected to be completed during 2013.

“We are excited to be selected by Statoil for this important project,” said Mitch Dauzat, president, Gas Monetization. “KBR looks forward to working together with Statoil to define their LNG concept for Tanzania.”

KBR has been working with Statoil for more than 30 years and has an outstanding record for successful project execution, predominantly for Statoil’s Gas Processing plants.

BP has announced a $10 million research collaboration project involving five Brazilian and three British universities.

The project, aimed at improving the understanding of the formation of the Parnaíba basin in Northeast Brazil, will combine deep crustal seismic reflection data, seismology and geological fieldwork.

Starting with seismic acquisition, it will involve students from the Universities of Brasilia, the Federal Universities of Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco and Bahia, and the Brazilian National Observatory in Brazil, and the Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge and Oxford in the UK.

The project was launched during a visit to Brazil by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and signed by Dr. Mike Daly, BP Executive Vice-President and José Geraldo de Sousa Junior, President of theUniversity of Brasilia.

“Brazil and the UK are committed to building on our already excellent relationship in science, research and higher education,” commented David Willetts, British Minister of State for Universities and Science. “This new agreement will further strengthen our ties — and bring more opportunities for our leading scientists, universities and businesses to collaborate and learn from one another, driving up knowledge and skills in both our countries.”