December 2011, Vol. 238 No. 12

Business Meetings & Events

December 2011 Company News, Mergers & Acquisitions

ConocoPhillips has created a new independent downstream company named Phillips 66 that will be headquartered in Houston. Phillips 66 will have leading businesses in refining, marketing, midstream and chemicals.

“Phillips 66 has strong brand recognition and value and it provides a link between our rich history and our exciting future,” said Greg Garland, designated chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips 66. “Our name reflects an independent spirit and drive – two attributes of our future company.”

The specific location in Houston for the Phillips 66 headquarters will be announced at a later date.

ConocoPhillips, which will be a pure-play exploration and production company after the repositioning, will continue to be headquartered in Houston at the existing ConocoPhillips facility.

Larrett Energy Services, Inc. is expanding its operations to the South Texas Eagle Ford Shale. Larrett will be opening a new 35 acre office, shop and lay down yard at 12048 Hwy 83 in Asherton TX. The facility expansion is to meet the growing customer demand in the area. Operations are scheduled to commence this month.

Larrett Energy, which is headquartered in Dallas, TX has concentrated its resources in the Barnett Shale and the installation of the urban pipelines. The company also operates a pipeline maintenance division that operates in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

In the Win A Cat® Truck contest, which drew more than 300 entries and 47,500 votes, LPA Marine of Peaks Island, ME came out on top – winning a new Cat CT660 Vocational Truck, the first in a full line of vocational trucks from Caterpillar.

“We think Caterpillar can do for our trucks what it has consistently done for our marine and excavating equipment,” said LPA Marine’s Coley Mulkern in his “Win a Cat Truck” contest entry, a video that showcased how the company uses Cat equipment and engines to serve the communities and islands that make up coastal Maine.

The Vermeer Corporation, along with Jeff Wage – a veteran professional of the underground construction industry – has made a minority equity investment in the McLaughlin Group Inc. Dave Gasmovic, president of McLaughlin, is the primary shareholder and will continue to lead operations. Wage joins McLaughlin as vice president and an equity partner, while the minority equity investment by Vermeer provides a deeper strategic relationship with McLaughlin.

“The Vermeer investment in our company is a strategic business partnership that positions both for further success,” said Gasmovic. “Our current partners and customers will not be affected by this change and can count on the consistent support they’ve come to expect with McLaughlin.”

The new arrangement will not affect the current branding or distribution of McLaughlin products, including vacuum excavation systems, auger boring systems, locators and attachments.

Fast Fusion, LLC, manufacturer of the Fast Fusion® weld cooling equipment known as the MobileFusion Trac® and Cool Pack,™ announced that High Country Fusion, headquartered in Fairfield, ID, has become a non-exclusive distributor of Fast Fusion products in North America.

Bishop Lifting Products Inc. (BLP) completed acquisition of New Orleans-based Atomic Industrial Marine and Supply. It is BLP’s seventh branch location, fourth along the Gulf Coast.

Compressor Products International (CPI) acquired Compressor Sales & Service Co., Ltd. (CSS), in Rayong, Thailand. The site will offer local sales support, engineering capabilities, compressor overhaul services, compressor component reconditioning and supply, and a variety of other shop and field services.

Tyco Flow Control, a unit of Tyco International, opened a new Project Management Center and expanded operations at its oil and gas headquarters in Houston. The Center will work in coordination with two existing sites in the UK and Singapore, providing customers a single point of contact from Tyco Flow Control for the duration of their projects. The Houston Center’s work begins at the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) stage, developing engineering and frame agreements, and handling the commercial, technical and legal issues.

ABS is strengthening ties to the Korean maritime industry by establishing the ABS Korea Energy Technology Center (KETC) in Busan in 2012. This is ABS’ first energy center and will focus on applied research to a broad range of technology challenges. In a related move, the society is creating the role of Vice President of Global Korean Technology Development. Hoseong Lee, a veteran of ABS and respected professional in the Korean maritime industry, is being appointed to this new position.

Wasatch Supply, Inc. has been acquired by Pipeline Supply & Service, LLC, a portfolio company of Cadent Energy Partners, LLC.

PEMEX has acquired 45 of the Model 5100 HD Series gas analyzers from AMETEK Process Instruments to monitor moisture levels in natural gas at monitoring stations throughout Mexico.

T. D. Williamson, Inc. plans to open a Pipeline Integrity Center in Salt Lake City, UT. Situated close to the airport in the Salt Lake International Center, the site will double the TDW footprint in Salt Lake City. Once completed, the facility will combine the TDW inline inspection engineering, manufacturing, operations, service center, and data analysis functions in one location.

“Our goal is to create a Global Pipeline Integrity Center that not only houses our inline inspection capabilities but also leverages the total breadth of TDW technologies,” says Eric Rogers, director of pipeline integrity solutions for TDW.

GE Energy Financial Services is expanding its oil and gas industry footprint by investing in Summit Midstream Partners LLC, which acquires and develops midstream energy infrastructure in unconventional North American production basins. Summit Midstream’s assets include gathering, compression, and dehydration facilities in the core of the Barnett Shale. It recently announced the acquisition of South Piceance Basin assets in the Rockies from an Encana Corp. subsidiary.

High Plains Gas Inc. acquired Miller Fabrication, LLC., a Douglas, WY-based facility construction company serving the energy industry. Brandon Hargett, CEO of High Plains Gas, said, “The acquisition of Miller Fabrication is an important step for High Plains Gas because it broadens our increasing position in the energy construction industry while diversifying our revenue streams.”

CenterPoint Energy Services, Inc. (CES) acquired Asgard Energy, LLC headquartered in Denver. Asgard supplies natural gas to commercial, industrial, agricultural and residential customers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and West Virginia. CES says it will retain all Asgard employees and provide service to its new customers from a Denver office.