Engineering

Dallas-based natural gas vehicle (NGV) conversion company BAF Technologies has acquired Michigan-based automotive emissions control company ServoTech Engineering Inc., which will continue to operate under its current president as a BAF subsidiary. Terms of the acquisition were not released. Headed by Hamid Servati, ServoTech is a Ford Motor Co.-qualified calibration modifier. BAF was the first compressed natural gas converter recognized as Ford-qualified. ServoTech’s relationship with Ford should support BAF in developing engine calibrations more efficiently, enabling it ultimately to receive California and federal air quality approvals faster than in the past, according to BAF President John Bacon. BAF is a wholly owned subsidiary of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a provider of fueling infrastructure and natural gas for NGVs.

Dow Chemical Co. plans to build a world-scale ethylene production plant at its Dow Texas Operations in Freeport, TX, as part of a plan to capitalize on low-cost feedstocks available from growing U.S. shale gas supplies, the company said Thursday.

The challenges of developing oil and gas resources in unconventional plays and in the deepwater have raised the bar for geosciences and petroleum engineering professionals and heightened the importance of human resource (HR) management at exploration and production (E&P) companies, according to the latest survey from Schlumberger Business Consulting (SBC).

Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals Inc. has contracted with Cheniere Energy Partners LP unit Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC to provide engineering, procurement and construction of the first two liquefaction trains at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, LA. The contract is worth $3.9 billion. Total expected cost for the project before financing costs is estimated at $4.5 billion to $5 billion. Sabine Liquefaction is planning to construct facilities capable of producing 9 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first phase of its project and selling 7 million metric tons per year of the production under long-term agreements. To date it has contracted half of the production with BG Gulf Coast LNG LLC (see Daily GPI, Oct. 27) and said it will make a final investment decision upon contracting the remaining 3.5 million metric tons per year. Construction is expected to begin in 2012 with LNG exports expected to occur as early as 2015, Cheniere said.

Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money was. Today, he’d probably major in petroleum engineering — at least if he could hack the curriculum — because that’s where the money is now.

Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money was. Today, he’d probably major in petroleum engineering — at least if he could hack the curriculum — because that’s where the money is now.

Houston-based JGC Energy Development (USA) Inc. (JEDI), a unit of Yokohama, Japan-based engineering firm JGC Corp. (JGC), has agreed to acquire a stake in Eagle Ford Shale oil assets from TriTech LLC, the company said.

Constellation Energy, parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Monday said it had reached an agreement with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America Inc. to provide an array of integrated natural gas services and energy market analyses to Toyota facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A relatively short trip from the Haynesville Shale and about as old as the Eagle Ford, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) — which stretches from Texas through Louisiana and into Mississippi — could right now be considered the “penny stock” of the shale plays. Those who get in early will get in cheaply, but they’ll have to stomach some risk as the play is not yet a sure thing like its more mature peers.