KBR, a global engineering, construction and services company, has announced it has been awarded a five-year Master Services Agreement (MSA) with DuPont Engineering (DuPont) to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for most DuPont facilities in the USA and Mexico.

Expected revenue from the first year of the undisclosed contract value will be included in the Hydrocarbons segment’s backlog of unfilled orders in the fourth quarter of 2013. The balance of the contract value will be added to backlog during the life of the agreement.

This contract extends the long-standing EPCM services support of DuPont facilities in the U.S. Northeast region to now include the entire U.S. region and Mexico. In combination with the recently awarded industrial services contract, KBR will now provide comprehensive engineering, procurement, construction management, and continuous construction and maintenance services for most DuPont manufacturing sites in the USA. As part of this expanded relationship, KBR will open a new office in Charleston, W.Va.

“We have a long and proud history of top quartile project execution with DuPont, and this agreement is an outstanding milestone in further strengthening KBR’s 20-plus year partnership with an industry leader in the safe and efficient development and execution of capital projects,” said Roy Oelking, Group President, Hydrocarbons. “We are fully committed to continuing this partnership with DuPont in new locations in support of ongoing excellence in safe and profitable project delivery for years to come.”

CB&I has announced today it has been awarded a contract valued in excess of $55 million by the North West Redwater Partnership (NWRP), a joint venture between North West Upgrading Inc. and Canadian Natural Upgrading Ltd. CB&I will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for 18 storage tanks for bitumen feedstock and finished products for phase one of NWRP's new grassroots refinery in Sturgeon County, Alberta, Canada.

"This award builds on CB&I's proven expertise in storage tank design and construction for the refining industry," said Luke Scorsone, President of CB&I's Fabrication Services operating group. "It also continues CB&I's extensive legacy in Canada, where we have been operating for over a century."

British oil and gas engineering firm Amec has agreed to buy Swiss-based rival Foster Wheeler for 1.9 billion pounds ($3.13 billion), the first sizeable acquisition in the sector for three years. Amec said the deal would increase its position and help more than double revenues in growing markets such as Latin America and the Middle East. The firm, which provides services and equipment for the oil and gas, mining, nuclear and renewable energy sectors, said the acquisition would also add oil and gas transport and refining capabilities to its existing extraction facilities. The deal, expected to complete in the second half of this year, will end a drought of major transactions in a sector where targets’ high growth forecasts have fuelled shareholders’ expectations of big takeover premiums, making it difficult for firms to agree on price.

Its chief executive Samir Brikho said: "The combination...would be financially and strategically attractive."

The value of the two firms combined will be £5bn. Under the deal, Foster Wheeler shareholders will receive 0.9 new Amec shares and $16 in cash, valuing the Swiss group at $32 a share.  Amec said it would fund the cash component of the offer through existing cash resources as well as new debt financing.

"I believe it would be a compelling proposition for our shareholders, customers and employees," added Mr Brikho.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced that it will begin developing a new certification program as part of a recently announced $23 million federal grant to fund two-year degree programs in “Mission Critical Operations” at five North Carolina colleges.

The grant, administered through the US Department of Labor, is designed to prepare tomorrow’s workforce to compete for increasingly demanding, high-wage and high-skill jobs in industrial operations and information technology, particularly those defined as mission critical—“operations requiring round-the-clock supervision of systems” and those “aimed at combating the evolving threat of critical infrastructure operations failure.”

ISA’s new Certified Mission-Critical Professional (CMCP) certification program will test graduates based on the skills and body of knowledge taught through new Mission Critical Operations curriculum and degree programs to be established at Cleveland Community College, Wake Technical Community College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Nash Community College and Moultrie Technical College.

While Mission Critical Operations encompasses a broad spectrum of career areas—including infrastructure maintenance, communications and emergency operations—ISA’s new CMCP certification program will focus on industrial operations, such as automation engineering technology, advanced manufacturing, and cybersecurity of industrial control networks.

More than half of the $23 million grant is allocated to Cleveland Community College, the grant consortium leader in North Carolina and a long-time workforce development partner of ISA and ISA’s sister organization, the Automation Federation. Nearly $1.5 million of the remaining amount will finance ISA’s development of the CMCP certification program.

“As an organization that has been training and certifying professionals for rewarding careers in automation, engineering and manufacturing for decades, ISA is uniquely capable to develop this new CMCP certification program,” says Dalton Wilson, ISA’s manager of Education Services. “Furthermore, our existing, long-standing partnership with Cleveland Community College will be a major asset as we work with educators there to craft a certification program that’s directly tied to the curriculum and degrees to be offered at the five colleges.”

Since the functions, skills and knowledge requirements of a Mission-Critical Professional in industrial operations and the precise coursework essential to train one are not yet well defined, Wilson says it will take time to develop the CMCP certification program. Based on the grant proposal, the first full year the program will be offered will be 2017.

“A comprehensive job analysis needs to be conducted, and we’ll be identifying and engaging subject-matter experts to assist in developing the certification exam,” he reports. “Once completed, the CMCP certification will be another valuable addition to our certification offerings and, when combined with a degree in Mission Critical Operations, graduates in this field will be able to really differentiate themselves among prospective employers and significantly enhance their marketability.”