UK: Infrastructure manager Network Rail brought the handling of new and used ballast in-house with effect from July 1, by 'mutual agreement' with Frimstone Ltd which was previously contracted to operate local distribution centres at Carlisle, Crewe, Bescot, Toton, Doncaster, Whitemoor and Eastleigh. Around 40 staff transferred to NR from [...]

LUKOIL has launched assembly of supporting blocks for the ice-resistant stationary platform located at Vladimir Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea. The supporting blocks will be attached to the seabed by means of twenty piles, each with a diameter of more than 2 meters. The piles will be hammered into [...]

The U.S. approved two solar projects and one geothermal plant that will total 520 MW of capacity in Arizona and Nevada. The 100-MW Quartsize Solar Energy project will be located in Arizona, while the 350-MW Midland Solar Project and 70-MW New York Canyon Geothermal Project will be located in Nevada. [...]

Three of the largest regional contractors in the North of England have fired a broadside at the Government’s procurement strategy for favouring national operators. The directors of Surgo, Esh and Tolent have now written an open letter to the Government highlighting the problems which they claim are “delivering a poor [...]

THE transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has confirmed that franchising is back on track, following the collapse of the West Coast franchise competition last October and the two critical reports which followed. His statement has come just 24 hours since the Association of Train Operating Companies published data which sets out [...]

Premier Oil has announced that, in conjunction with KUFPEC Norway AS (KUFPEC), it has agreed to acquire a 40 per cent interest in PL407 from BG Norge AS (BG). PL407 contains the Bream field and is on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. KUFPEC will acquire a 30 per cent interest while [...]

Battling Balfour Beatty staff have won their fight against closure plans for the firm’s regional civil engineering office in Northampton. A consultation was launched last month to shut the office as part of Balfour’s regional reorganisation. But the 120 Northampton staff drew-up alternative plans to keep the office open and [...]

Statoil has kicked off drilling of exploration well 16/2-18S in PL265, west of Johan Sverdrup field, in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. The well will target the Cliffhanger North prospect, located in the North Sea sector of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The well is located in PL265 [...]

Network Rail has published its technical strategy, setting out research and development opportunities for the next thirty years. The strategy aims to boost investment in R&D to meet key outcomes on safety, performance, customer experience, capacity, cost-efficiency and sustainability. Network Rail chairman Richard Parry-Jones said: “Our ability to be more ambitious relies [...]

Barratt London has formed a 50/50 joint venture with Morgan Stanley Real Estate to build 770 homes on a riverside site in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The £275m scheme covers 8.9 acre site and has 130 metres of river frontage between the centre of Greenwich and the O2. The [...]

India’s biggest solar power-producing state is seeking to cut the subsidized rate it pays to plants by 28 percent, joining governments from Spain to Greece backtracking on clean-energy support to lower costs. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. is asking for permission to lower the average megawatt-hour price to 9,000 rupees [...]

Aker Solutions won a contract from Caspian Drilling Company Ltd (CDC) to provide a complete topside equipment package for a new semi-submersible drilling rig in Baku, Azerbaijan. The parties agreed not to disclose the value of the order. Aker Solutions has previously delivered drilling equipment to eight drilling rigs operating in [...]