fuelforthought


Spectro Inc. Acquires Wilks Enterprise, Inc.


Spectro Inc., a specialist US based developer and manufacturer of analytical tools and software for the industrial performance fluids market, recently announced it has purchased Wilks Enterprise, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Wilks, and established in 1995, specialises in the development and manufacture of mid-infrared (mid-IR) application specific analysers that are used for biofuel, petrochemical, environmental, quality control, manufacturing and ambient air monitoring measurement.


“We are excited to have Wilks Enterprise become part of Spectro Inc. as we continue to build a global leadership position in the industrial fluids analysis market,” commented Brian Mitchell, president and CEO of Spectro Inc. “Wilks has built an excellent position and reputation in its core markets with portable, rugged and easy to operate instruments. Combining this with Spectro’s extended resources and channel reach gives us optimism in projecting significant future growth from the Wilks platform.”


“Both Spectro and Wilks have excellent synergy between their product lines, industries served, and the shared goal of providing rugged, easy-to- use analysers. We are excited by the prospect of additional resources that will help bring new products and applications to market,” said Sandra Wilks Rintoul, president of Wilks Enterprise, Inc.


email: 27076pr@reply-direct.com


Analytical Flow Products is Acquired by IMI PLC


IMI plc (“IMI”), the international engineering solutions group, has acquired Analytical Flow Products (Canada).


Founded in Quebec in 2007 by Yves Gamache and André Fortier, Analytical Flow Products (AFP) manufactures an extensive range of precision fluid control solutions, including a family of highly specialised valves critical to chromatography (separation sciences) as well as a broad range of other analytical platforms, including the testing of purity of gasses in refineries.The acquisition of AFP is highly complementary with other IMI subsidiaries and especially those of Norgren, including Norgren Kloehn and Fluid Automation Systems, both of which serve OEMs and end users in life sciences.


Customers and suppliers will continue to do business through the normal AFP channels. Yves Gamache, Peter Theissen and other AFP employees will continue with the company under IMI ownership.


email: 26610pr@reply-direct.com Servomex Opens New Service Facilities in Singapore


Servomex (UK), specialists in gas analysis, is pleased to announce the opening of a new state-of-the-art Service facility in Singapore.


The new facility, which incorporates the installation of a service house bespoke designed and built to Servomex’s specifications, offers a full complement of in-house maintenance and repair services for Servomex gas analysers.


The opening of the Singapore service centre complements an existing facility at Servomex’s Asia Pacific business centre in Shanghai, greatly enhancing Servomex’s service presence in the region. The Singapore centre will concentrate on delivering high quality maintenance and repairs across South East Asia, supporting customers in countries including Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan.


Delivered through Servomex’s Service Network, all work is undertaken by an expert engineering team led by Senior Service Engineer Seow Thiam Hoe. The team provides support for all Servomex gas analysers,


including the SERVOTOUGH, SERVOPRO, Delta F and SERVOFLEX analyser ranges, ensuring work is carried out to the highest quality standards.


The Service house has been built to incorporate bespoke workstation areas designed for servicing specific analysers. This includes dedicated benches for servicing Delta F products, a span gases station able to calibrate different analysers and a dual workstation for the SERVOPRO Chroma, optimised for Argon and Helium carrier gases respectively.


In addition to in-house maintenance and repairs, the Servomex Service Network also offers customers in the region full on-site support – including commissioning, analyser heath check and maintenance services - as well as access to quality spares, rental equipment and analyser training.


“Our new Singapore service centre enables Servomex to bring in-house repairs much closer to our customers in the region,” says Frank Zhu, General Manager, Servomex Asia Pacific.


“With the expertise and experience of Servomex’s Service Network now available locally, customers will benefit from faster turnaround times for their analyser maintenance, greatly reducing downtime.”


email: 26934pr@reply-direct.com


New Incentives Boost Interest in Pakistan’s Exploration Opportunities, but Shale Gas Appears More Uncertain


New incentives offered as part of Pakistan’s latest policies for petroleum resource production seem to be proving an attractive prospect for potential investors. However, an equally effective shale gas policy appears more unlikely, according to the latest report from research and consulting firm GlobalData (UK).


The new report states that various alterations made to specific terms have improved the attractiveness of Pakistan’s exploration opportunities, and the government is only likely to continue offering more incentives as the country seeks to boost its domestic petroleum production.


Both the Petroleum Policy of 2012 and recently introduced policies for marginal fields, tight gas and low- energy gas have offered improved natural gas prices for government purchases.


Furthermore, the 2012 policy offers a more reasonable base price for the windfall levy, along with additional incentives for offshore exploration, promising the first three discoveries an extra ‘bonanza’ of $1 per mmBtu (million British thermal unit).


Jonathan Lacouture, GlobalData’s Lead Analyst for the Asia-Pacific region, says: “These new incentives appear to have attracted many upstream firms, as 50 of the 58 blocks in the 2012–2013 licensing round have already been bid on, and a total of 60 bids have been received altogether. Although some licenses still have yet to be granted, this is a promising result for the South Asian nation.”


Pakistan, which is believed to boast sizeable tight gas reserves, and even larger shale gas reserves, is currently seeking to promote the development of unconventional resources in an effort to curtail its energy shortages. The nation has already commenced the production of tight gas. However, the government’s financial limitations mean that the future of shale gas is more uncertain.


“Recent studies carried out by Pakistan Petroleum Limited, in conjunction with Eni S.p.A of Italy, suggested that the break-even price point for shale gas would be around $14/mmBtu, which is much higher than the current domestic sales price,” notes Lacouture. “Given the subsidies in place, an effective policy would be unaffordable.


“Although policies for tight gas may succeed in promoting the exploitation of reserves, budgetary pressures may restrict the government’s ability to offer an effective shale gas policy in the short to medium term. Until the state narrows the disparity between consumer and producer prices, sufficient incentives in this area will not be possible,” the analyst concludes.


email: 27015pr@reply-direct.com email:


Endress+Hauser Expanding US Production


Endress+Hauser (Switzerland) is set to serve its customers in North and South America with more US-sourced products. The Swiss specialist for measurement engineering and process automation has invested over 40 million dollars in expanding its plants for flow, level and pressure measurement manufacturing.


Producing, assembling and calibrating at sites throughout the world is one of Endress+Hauser’s central business strategies. “We want to move our production as close as possible to our customers,” stressed Klaus Endress, CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group, during the inauguration ceremony for two new buildings in Greenwood, Indiana. “Being close allows us to respond quickly to the special needs and requirements of market and customers.”


One important factor for this concept to work is globally uniform quality standards. “Here in the US we manufacture at the highest level,” stressed Hans- Peter Blaser, Managing Director of the flow engineering plant in Greenwood. An extension to the new building occupied only five years ago has created nearly 85,000 square feet of additional space. “This gives us the chance to increase capacity and to produce additional lines of instruments locally.” The systems for calibrating flowmeters, unique on the continent, have now grown to include the latest technology for gas calibration.


The plant for level and pressure engineering moves into a new building with more than 105,000 square feet of ground area directly next door. “After years of strong growth, this will make us fit for the future,” says Managing Director John Schnake. The additional production areas will increase the scope of production and allow more products to be delivered directly from the Greenwood plant. The vacated facilities space will allow for a new visitor and training center for the US sales organisation.


26857pr@reply-direct.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52