The critical Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is entering the implementation phase as Pakistan’s state-owned firm Inter-State Gas Systems and Tadbir Energy Costar Iranian Co will sign a construction contract for laying the pipeline in Pakistan sooner.

All issues pertaining to the $1.5 bn Pak-Iran gas pipeline were settled on Thursday and an initial contract is expected to be signed between Pakistan and Iran on Friday. Under the EPC contract to be signed, Tadbir, the Iranian company, would construct the pipeline at a cost of Rs190 million per km and will lay 2 km pipeline per day inside Pakistan. Both sides were in talks for the last four days and the Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) on behalf of Pakistan and Tadbir from Iran would ink the landmark contract of the EPC. The agreement for purchasing gas would be for 20 years initially and could be extended for another five years, a senior official who is part of the talks confided to The News.

The gas companies - Sui Southern, Sui Northern - and FWO (Frontier Works Organization) f Pakistan will also take part in constructing the pipeline. The gas utilities will complete the task related to mechanical issues and FWO will do the civil works. The laying of 781 kilometres of gas pipeline with 42 inches diameter from Gabd - a point at Pak-Iran border to Nawabshah - will be completed in 15 months. Gas will be imported from Iran at the rate of $13 per MMBTU.

Pakistan is to primarily import 750 million cubic feet per day that would be injected in the power sector to help generate 4000 MW of electricity. Later on the flow of gas will be increased to 1 billion cubic feet gas that will generate 5000 MW of electricity. The replacement of costly furnace oil being used as fuel in powerhouses with the imported gas will help save $1 billion per annum. Pakistan and Iran have also resolved the issue of interest on the loan Tehran would extend. It was decided that Iran would extend $500 million loan and Pakistan would pay 3 percent interest on loan against 4 percent as demanded by Tehran.

Iran will also reduce the price of gas to be imported as against the price earlier finalised in gas sales purchase agreement. There is a clause in the agreement that if Pakistan arranges import of gas from other country at lower price then Iran would also do accordingly.

“We have struck deal with Turkmenistan for import of gas under TAPI gas line at a reduced price compared to the price of Iran.” Once the EPC gets signed the groundbreaking ceremony would be held as soon as possible so that the project could be materialised by December 2014.

Honeywell’s UOP has announced that its UOP Oleflex™ process technology has been selected by China’s Longgang Chemical Co. to produce key ingredients for fuels and synthetic rubber.  Honeywell’s UOP C4 Oleflex process will be used to convert refinery-derived isobutane to isobutylene, a valuable petrochemical used in the production of fuels and synthetic rubber. This is UOP’s second C4 Oleflex process license in China. In addition to technology licensing, Honeywell’s UOP will provide basic engineering, catalysts, adsorbents, specialty equipment and engineering for the project.

“As the demand for petrochemicals grows, especially in China, producers are looking for ways to maximize product yields while reducing production costs,” said Pete Piotrowski, senior vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s UOP Process Technology and Equipment business unit. “Honeywell’s UOP technology will help China meet growing demand efficiently and more profitably. This project is yet another milestone for UOP’s Oleflex technology, and we look forward to working with Longgang Chemical.”

Yokogawa is pleased to announce the addition of Soteica Visual MESA's best-in-class energy management and optimization solution services to its portfolio of plantwide energy management solutions (EMS). Yokogawa will provide this new offering to its customers through its strong sales and service channels. Yokogawa has also acquired 44.3% ownership of Soteica Visual MESA to accelerate the joint development of EMS.

Manufacturers around the world are highly interested in, and have a strong need for, EMS that will help them consume less energy and reduce their manufacturing costs. In addition, there is an increasing trend to optimize the mix of conventional and alternative energy sources used by plants, which can help to protect the environment by reducing the emissions of gases such as CO2 and NOx. There are two components to energy management in plants. One is to make more efficient the supply and distribution of utilities, such as steam, electricity and fuel that are used by equipment in the main process, and the other is to optimize the energy consumed by the main process itself.

For this reason, Yokogawa has decided to partner with Soteica Visual MESA, a global technology leader in the EMS field that has worked closely with major oil companies and has a strong track record in the oil industry. The partnership will allow Yokogawa to sell Soteica Visual MESA's well-proven Visual MESA energy management and optimization solution package, extending the range of solution services that it is able to offer to its customers. The partnership will also allow Soteica Visual MESA to expand its sales of Visual MESA through Yokogawa's global sales network, with a particular focus on Asia.

Visual MESA is capable of reducing annual energy costs by approximately 2% to 5%. There are approximately 3,400 plants worldwide with $40 million or more in utility costs each year that could benefit from Visual MESA and obtain a return on their investment in one year or less, and Yokogawa will initially be targeting these facilities.

Yokogawa will provide high value added EMS services, including maintenance and sitewide energy management and optimization services (sustainability services). Yokogawa and Soteica Visual MESA will also cooperate in engineering with the aim of acquiring the knowledge needed to create a new business model for an EMS service that can help to optimize energy efficiency throughout a plant, including the main process and utilities.

"We are very excited about entering into this comprehensive partnership with Yokogawa as it will enable us to dramatically increase the exposure of Visual MESA, our industry leading solution for utilities optimization", said Oscar Santollani, Soteica Visual MESA's CEO. He added, "We have found in Yokogawa a partner with whom we share the same work ethics and engineering rigor. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."

Yokogawa President Shuzo Kaihori commented as follows: "Our customer's technologically advanced plants need not only to reduce their energy consumption but also to obtain the best mix of conventional and renewable energy sources in order to protect the environment by reducing emissions of CO2, NOx, and other gases. To meet our customers' growing needs in this area, Soteica is an ideal fit for Yokogawa, allowing us to deliver field proven plantwide energy management and optimization solutions and services."

KBR has announced it has been selected by PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang, to provide licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for a new 2000 MTPD ammonia and 2750 MTPD urea plant located in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia.

The plant will be designed using KBR’s Purifier technology, which has demonstrated higher reliability than conventional designs and offers the lowest proven energy consumption in the industry. Construction of the grassroots facility is part of a consortium between Rekayasa and Toyo Engineering. Rekayasa will be responsible for the Ammonia and Toyo Engineering Corporation will be responsible for Urea.

“We are proud to provide our technology to help PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang meet the rising need of ammonia and urea production,” said John Derbyshire, President, KBR Technology. “KBR’s Purifier technology yields an extremely reliable, robust, low-energy plant, which will enable our customer to operate more efficiently.”