Zurich, Switzerland, March 6, 2012 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth more than $70 million from the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the national power transmission and distribution operator, to construct five new substations.

ABB will design, supply, install and commission the 110/13.8 kilovolt (kV) substations that will enhance grid capacity and help meet the growing demand for electricity in the Western and Central regions of the country.

“These substations will increase capacity and strengthen the transmission and distribution grid to address growing electricity demand from residential and commercial consumers,” said Brice Koch, head of ABB’s Power Systems division.

Key equipment supplies include the GIS (gas insulated switchgear), transformers, the auxiliary AC/DC system and capacitor banks. ABB will also supply the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system, the automation, control and protection equipment, and the global IEC 61850 standard compliant communication system. This will enable centralized remote monitoring and control of power assets located at multiple sites. The substations are expected to be commissioned in 2014.

Petrofac, the international oil & gas service provider, has been awarded a US$330 million lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Gazprom Neft Badra B.V. (‘Gazprom’) for the first phase of the Badra Oilfield Development Project in Iraq. The competitively tendered project will commence shortly and be completed in three 18-month phases, with final completion scheduled during the second half of 2015.

Under the terms of the contract, Petrofac will provide detailed design, engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning and start-up work on the Badra development’s central processing facility, which comprises three crude oil processing trains. The first phase of the project is expected to come on stream in the second half of 2013.

Marwan Chedid, chief executive of Petrofac’s Engineering, Construction, Operations & Maintenance (ECOM) division, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Gazprom on this important development which holds significant future potential for the progression of Iraq’s oil & gas industry. This is Petrofac’s third notable project award in Iraq and also marks our first lump-sum EPC project in the country.

Nelspruit, South Africa, March 1, 2012 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group has been awarded a large Electrification and Instrumentation (E&I) and Distributed Control System (DCS) order by Sappi Southern Africa.

ABB will engineer, procure and supply equipment for Sappi’s Ngodwana mill in Nelspruit, South Africa. This scope forms part of Sappi’s Project Go Cell, which entails the expansion of the current mill for the production of chemical cellulose. This order follows ABB’s successful implementation of Sappi Saiccor’s Amakhulu project in 2007.

Among the products to be supplied are Medium Voltage switchgear, Low Voltage MCCs incorporating intelligent motor controls, Profibus intelligent instrumentation, Variable Speed Drives and ABB’s state of the art 800xA control system. These products will support the mill’s goals of increased efficiency and lower energy consumption.

Due to the size and complexity of the project and to meet Sappi’s project deadline, ABB will have an international team of Pulp and Paper composite plant experts from South Africa, Finland and Singapore work on this project. The project team will ensure the seamless installation and completion of the electrification and automation equipment in Sappi’s required timeframes (plant production is expected to begin in 2013).

(Reuters) KUWAIT, Feb 15 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is set to sign agreements and contracts with international firms worth a total USD 5 billion over the next two days. Earlier on Wednesday, the state-run oil company signed a contract to provide 20,000 barrels of crude and 300,000 tonnes of liquefied gas to a Thai firm on a daily basis, Managing Director of Global Marketing, Naser Al-Mudhaf said in statements to the press.

KPC also signed a contract to provide a daily 200,000 tonnes of liquefied gas, subject to increase, to Indian-owned Bharat Petroleum and another worth over USD 2.5 billion with Indonesia's Petromina.