Siemens has decided to reorganize its activities in the water business. The company intends to focus in the future on automation and drive solutions for the control of water applications for municipalities and industry. The Business Unit known as Siemens Water Technologies, which offers solutions for municipal and industrial water purification and wastewater treatment, is to be sold along with the corresponding service activities. "This business shows only minor synergies with our industrial portfolio, as the skills for water treatment are primarily based on chemical expertise. Instead of investing into that business, we want to gear our resources toward our core portfolio," said Siegfried Russwurm, member of the Siemens AG Managing Board and CEO of the Industry Sector. Siemens Water Technologies is active predominantly in the North American market and recently underwent a comprehensive restructuring. Strengthening Siemens' core activities is one of the five main action fields in the corporate program "Siemens 2014".

Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts worth $1.1 billion in Brazil, Angola and the Caspian Sea.

Saipem has signed an EPIC contract with Petrobras for the projects Sapinhoá Norte and Cernambi Sul, within the development of the Pre-Salt Risers in the Santos Basin, approximately 186 miles (300 kilometers) off the coasts of the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states in Brazil, in water depths of 7,218 feet (2,200 meters). Petrobras is operator of the BM-S-09 consortium with BG and Repsol and the BM-S-11 consortium with Galp and Repsol.

The scope of work comprises of engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and pre-commissioning of the SLWR (Steel Lazy Wave Riser) for the collection system at the Sapinhoá Norte field, and of the FSHR (Free Standing Hybrid Risers) for the gas export systems at the Sapinhoá Norte and Cernambi Sul fields. The offshore activities will be performed by the highly-specialized Saipem FDS 2 vessel, and will start in the third quarter of 2014. Saipem will use its yard currently under development in Guarujá for the fabrication of part of the Risers system equipment.

Saipem has also wonan EPIC contract by Total E&P Angola for the GirRI (Girassol Resources Initiatives) project in Block 17, located approximately 130 miles (210 kilometers) north-west of Luanda In Angola. The contract comprises the engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of topside modifications for the multiphase pump systems on the Girassol and Dalia FPSOs. The offshore activities will mainly be performed by the Saipem 3000 vessel during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee informed today Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation that after having started pre-development operations on the Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula, Gazprom set itself a task to start the second stage of the Eastern Gas Program and establish new gas production centers. First of all, these are the Yakutia gas production center and the Irkutsk gas production center.

“Having started operations at the Chayandinskoye field, we are planning to construct a gas pipeline from Yakutia to Vladivostok via Khabarovsk (the gas pipeline length will be 3,200 kilometers). After that, along with the Kovyktinskoye field pre-development, we are planning to start construction of a gas pipeline that will serve as the second part of a 800 kilometer gas pipeline from Yakutia,” said Alexey Miller.

He stressed that the Investment Rationale for the Yakutia – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline construction had already been adopted. The gas pipeline will be constructed by the end of 2017.

A provision is also made for gas supply from the Irkutsk gas production center to the west. Thus, Eastern Russia will be connected to Western Siberia, the main gas-consuming center, so that the unified gas supply system will cover the whole country.

“We could also mention the LNG plant construction near Vladivostok, because even though we give priority to the domestic market, we are seriously considering creation of a new center for Russian gas export to Asia-Pacific. You know this market is the world's most receptive and it is developing at a rapid pace. It offers hopeful prospects, and in the nearest future we might create gas export capacities that will be comparable to gas supplies to Europe, or will even overpower them,” noted Alexey Miller.

Gazprom is planning to supply pipeline gas to Asia-Pacific on a second-priority basis after finishing the LNG plant construction and signing long-term contracts for LNG export from Russia.

Technip (NYSE Euronext Paris: TEC) and Heerema Marine Contractors (Heerema) announce today that they have signed a worldwide alliance agreement where the two companies will combine their capabilities to help their clients best address the fast growing subsea ultra-deepwater market.

ALLIANCE RATIONALE

Ultra-deepwater projects are expected to be the fastest growing part of the subsea market over the next several years. For example, ultra-deepwater infield pipelines are forecast to grow at a yearly pace more than 15% between 2012 and 2017.

These developments have significant challenges for our clients, which the alliance of Technip and Heerema addresses:

• Increasing size and complexity of ultra-deepwater projects require extensive project management skills and execution track record,
• Complexity of deepwater reservoirs requires technology investment to optimize field design and provide solutions for high pressure, high temperature or highly corrosive hydrocarbons,
• Deeper water and heavier pipes increase pipe-tensioning and installation requirements of specialized pipe-lay vessels.