Technip was awarded by Shell Offshore Inc. (“Shell”) an important engineering, procurement and installation contract for the development of subsea infrastructure for the Stones field. This field is located in the Walker Ridge area in the US Gulf of Mexico, at a water depth of approximately 2,900 meters (9,500 feet). This development will host the deepest floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in the world and will be Shell’s first FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico.

Technip will be in charge of installation of the subsea production system and Stones lateral gas pipeline(2), inclusive of associated project management, engineering and stalk fabrication.

Technip's operating center in Houston, Texas will perform the overall project management. The flowlines(3) and risers(4) will be welded at Technip’s spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama. The offshore installation is expected to be performed in the second half of 2014 by the Deep Blue, Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel.

David Dickson, Technip’s Senior Vice President, North America Region, has declared: “With greater depths come greater challenges for our clients and we are delighted to help Shell push back subsea frontiers by laying the deepest gas pipeline worldwide. With the award of this high-profile project, Technip confirms its subsea leadership and keeps differentiating itself through innovation to remain at the forefront of frontier projects.”

Technip, in consortium with its construction partner Performance Contractors Inc., was awarded a contract by the National Cooperative Refinery Association (NCRA(1)). This contract covers supply of Technip’s proprietary reforming technology, as well as EPCI(2) of the No. 2 hydrogen plant equipment at NCRA’s refinery in McPherson, Kansas. The 40 million standard cubic feet per day (45 thousand normal cubic meters per hour) plant is part of an expansion project which will allow NCRA to upgrade this refinery.

The project will utilize Technip's high efficiency top-fired steam reformer to produce high purity hydrogen and export steam and the latest nitrogen oxide reduction technology to ensure minimum emissions. The contract covers engineering, fabrication, supply, installation, pre-commissioning and start-up assistance.

Technip’s operating center in Claremont, California, will execute the project, which is scheduled for completion by the first semester of 2015.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces the August 16 release of the new SENCOM platform product series for the digital measurement of pH and ORP. This will join an existing lineup of quality pH/ORP solutions that includes the FLXA21 two-wire* pH/ORP-transmitter. With the release of the SENCOM platform products, Yokogawa will bring pH and ORP measurement into the digital era.

The SENCOM platform initially consists of a SENCOM module, the FU20F pH/ORP SENCOM sensor, a SENCOM cable, and the SPS24 SENCOM PC software. The installation of a SENCOM module in an FLXA21 transmitter will give it the powerful digital signal processing capabilities required to work together with the new SENCOM sensors.

Like its predecessor, the FU20F pH/ORP SENCOM sensor is a general purpose sensor that is suitable for a wide range of applications. The FU20F can store digital data and be calibrated using the SPS24 SENCOM PC software and/or the FLXA21. With these SENCOM platform products, our customers will be able to reduce the amount of maintenance work that needs to be performed on-site, thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs.

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KBR has announced it has secured an award to execute front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a crude oil refinery revamp project for one of the oldest operating refineries in the U.S.

During the feasibility phase, KBR’s expertise will focus on determining the optimum economic configuration to increase overall heavy crude processing capability and flexibility. The refinery currently processes light sweet crudes and aims to take advantage of fluctuations in the crude oil pricing market by gaining the flexibility to process heavier sour crude oils.

“KBR draws upon its deep domain expertise in refinery solutions and revamp projects to help satisfy our customer’s economic and operating flexibility needs,” said David Zelinski, President, KBR Downstream. “We look forward to the successful execution of this project and continuing our long-term relationship with this valued client.”