News

The Carlyle Group L.P., global asset manager and Sunoco Inc. have agreed to form a joint venture Philadelphia Energy Solutions, that will enable the historic Philadelphia refinery to continue to operate.

BASF has acquired Malcom, Iowa-based ITWC, which specializes in cast elastomer polyurethane systems and polyester polyols. BASF is acquiring ITWC's assets, including those obtained during the company's acquisition of Hydroseal Polymers Inc.

South Carolina State University has received almost USD$1 million to assist students in the nuclear engineering field, from the National Nuclear Security Administration. The leaders at the Orangeburg school were presented the funds by Administration representatives last week.

USD$1.7 billion in high bids out of a total USD$2.6 billion for all bids was drawn for the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale. 593 bids on 454 tracts covering 2.4 million acres of the 39 million acres total offered were bid on by 56 operators.

Tyco International unit, Tyco Flow Control opened a new state-of-the-art plant in Chengdu, China, the capital of Sichuan Province in May. The plant is part of Tyco's three-year, USD$100 million China-wide investment program, including a China Engineering Center in Shanghai and a high-performance Steam Testing Center in Qingpu.

Valener Inc. announced that Gaz Metro Limited Partnership's wholly owned subsidiary Northern New England Energy Corporation has completed the acquisition of Vermont's largest electricity distributor, Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (CVPS).

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has issued an air permit for Indiana Gasification's new clean coal facility. The issuing of the permit is a major step toward construction of the state-of-the-art plant.

Talisman Energy has decided not to proceed with the upcoming phase of Sasol Canada's GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility project, after participating in a feasibility study for the project. As part of the ongoing partnership between Talisman and Sasol that includes two 50% working interests in two natural gas assets and associated infrastructure in Talisman's Montney shale resources in northeastern British Columbia, Talisman was granted the option to participate in the feasibility study.

   BP Exploration has selected Emerson Process Management as automation contractor of choice for offshore oil and gas operations in BP's North Sea Region.

ADA-ES, Inc. has initiated the fabrication and construction phase of a 1MW Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture Pilot Plant. The pilot will be installed outside Birmingham, Alabama at Southern Company subsidiary Alabama Power's Miller Electric Generating Plant.