The UK needs to secure its gas supplies by gaining “greater access” to an “abundance” of storage in Europe, consultancy firm Mitie Energy has warned. Britain should make better use of interconnectors rather than building “hugely expensive” storage facilities. “The UK’s only long-range gas storage facility Rough
CITB Wales’ apprentice Alex Chivers, 21, from Brynmawr, attends Ebbw Vale College. Alex is undertaking a Groundworks Apprenticeship. He works on Costain’s A465 Heads of the Valleys Dualling Scheme. My week starts at 7am on Monday. My first job is to check equipment is working fine. Next, I get on
A campaign has been launched to raise awareness of cancer among male construction workers, after a survey found many may be ignoring symptoms of the disease. Don’t Let Cancer Ruin Your Foundations has been set up by Macmillan Cancer Support in partnership with some of the UK’s biggest building firms.
©Reuters Shale oil drilling in the Vaca Muerta formation in Patagonia About 1,000km south-west of Buenos Aires, a drill rig towers over a low plateau of Patagonian scrubland. Inside a cabin nearby, engineers working for YPF, Argentina’s state-controlled oil company, use a computer screen to monitor the steady advance of
A number of MPs have called for the National Grid to be broken up to revolutionise the energy supply of the UK. The National Grid runs the country’s electricity system and is one of the 20 largest companies in Britain with a £36 billion market value. Now, MP’s on the
Legal & General is set to inject £65 million into a regeneration project in Newcastle as it teams up with Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University for the new £350 million development of Newcastle Science Central. Newcastle Science Central is one of the biggest urban regeneration projects of its kind
The number of retired people living in private rented accommodation in the UK has increased by 200,000 over the last four years, according to the latest poll. The National Landlords Association (NLA) survey has shown a growth of 13% in the proportion of retired private renters since 2012 as more
The state oil company of Kazakhstan has tightened its grip on its UK based unit over opposition from some of its independent directors and has set up a further boardroom battle at another London based Kazakh oil firm. KazMunaiGas, a national company which is fully owned by the Kazakh state
Highways England has awarded its final two contracts as part of its new delivery arrangements in the reorganisation of the East Midlands maintenance programme. Ahead of Highways England bringing operations and asset management functions back in house in the East Midlands from the start of next month, all key Area
The Olympic Park slide is set to open next week as the final pieces have now been put in place on the slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower. The construction firm, Mace, says the 178 metre long and 76 metre high tunnel slide at the landmark is now ready for
The UK needs to secure its gas supplies by gaining “greater access” to an “abundance” of storage in Europe, consultancy firm Mitie Energy has warned. Britain should make better use of interconnectors rather than building “hugely expensive” storage facilities. “The UK’s only long-range gas storage facility Rough will be offline this winter raising concerns over the security of gas supplies during the period,” it noted in an analysis. “Ongoing issues at the facility have left many questioning the UK’s lack of gas storage capacity compared with other large European gas markets.” The Rough facility provides just 3.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) of long-range storage. By comparison Germany, which consumes a similar volume of gas to the UK, has 21 bcm of long-range storage in total. At the moment the Interconnector which runs from the UK to Belgium is the “sole link” with storage on the continent. There is also the Balgzand Bacton Line (BBL) to the Netherlands but this offers “very little flexibility as it appears to be predominantly booked for supplies bought under long-term contracts”. “As a result, there are often times when the UK is exporting through the Interconnector but importing through the BBL,” it added. “Freeing up this capacity could provide an additional 50 million cubic metres per day link to storage on the continent – slightly more than what Rough currently contributes”. Mitie said there is plenty of spare storage to access on the continent. Even by the end of an “extreme” cold spell across Europe in 2013, German storage was still 25 per cent full and Italian and French storage 10 per cent full. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is “much less responsive” to supply shortages than the Rough facility or interconnectors as a tanker leaving Qatar, the main exporter to Britain, takes roughly two weeks to arrive in the UK. Nevertheless, the firm said a global glut of LNG and the underutilisation of import facilities meant Britain was unlikely to need to build any new storage capacity itself in the short to medium term. Gas prices in the UK shot up after Centrica Storage announced in July that a 42-day closure of the Rough facility would be extended over the winter in order to carry out a prolonged testing programme. The facility is expected to come back online in March or April. Source link
CITB Wales’ apprentice Alex Chivers, 21, from Brynmawr, attends Ebbw Vale College. Alex is undertaking a Groundworks Apprenticeship. He works on Costain’s A465 Heads of the Valleys Dualling Scheme. My week starts at 7am on Monday. My first job is to check equipment is working fine. Next, I get on the dumper and deliver materials around site. I do that through the week and finish at half-past-five every day. I enjoy all parts of my work; it’s good to be entrusted with different responsibilities. The Foreman and Supervisors look after the apprentices on site. They help us with our work but they like to see apprentices figure out problems first so we learn by doing things. Last year I spent a day in college every week as part of my apprenticeship. This year I’ve focused on the evidence-side on site. Julie, from CITB Wales, visits the apprentices. She stays up-to-date with our progress. Julie visited us every fortnight in college to see how we were doing. CITB has been really good us with us, fair play. Costain has been very good, too. They’ve put us on courses which help us with our work. Costain and CITB are making us more valued workers by helping us get recognised qualifications. I’m hoping that the courses will mean I can put my hand to anything on site. With a company like Costain there are so many pathways to do different things. My advice to anyone thinking about a career in construction would be “just go for it.” If you’re interested in construction there’s no harm in trying things. You don’t have to be a labourer; you can do a lot of different jobs on site. If I got fed-up with groundworks there are opportunities to do other kinds of construction work. I think an apprenticeship is the best way of following a career because you’re learning and earning. I got my first car in this job so the money comes in handy. Construction work helps build character too. When my apprenticeship ends I’d like to stay with Costain and work my way up, maybe have a supervisor role then be a General Foreman. I’d just like to be a valued worker more than anything. For information on how you can become part of the Welsh Construction sector please visit: https://www.goconstruct.org/ To find out how CITB Wales’ work with Costain is boosting construction opportunities in Wales please click here. Source link
A campaign has been launched to raise awareness of cancer among male construction workers, after a survey found many may be ignoring symptoms of the disease. Don’t Let Cancer Ruin Your Foundations has been set up by Macmillan Cancer Support in partnership with some of the UK’s biggest building firms. It follows a poll of 600 men working in the sector carried out for the charity which revealed that 43% would not want to talk about symptoms such as a lump or a suspicious mole, in case it was thought they were “making a fuss”. In addition, the results show that 23% of those who took part in the survey admitted they would feel discouraged from seeking help because they were too embarrassed. The new campaign is being run in conjunction with firms including Travis Perkins, Benchmarx Kitchens & Joinery, Kier Group, Costain, Selco Builders Warehouse, and Wolseley UK. It will see the companies work together to raise awareness of cancer and the work of Macmillan, as well as encouraging men to seek medical advice where it is needed. Alison Rodgers, Health and Safety Strategy Manager at CITB, commented: “Macmillan Cancer Support’s new campaign will help start conversations that could potentially save the lives of many construction workers. “Raising awareness about health and safety issues is of the utmost importance to CITB, so it’s really encouraging to see so many construction firms engaging in this worthy campaign.” In a separate survey carried out for Macmillan, 14% of the 985 men polled said they would avoid going to the doctor with symptoms such as lumps or moles. This is despite the fact that the findings also showed that 38% of men have been kept awake at night because of concerns over their health. Senior Macmillan information nurse, John Newlands, said: “It’s really important that both men and women are aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer and that they report any changes to their health as early as possible. “We often find that men don’t know what they should look out for, or that they feel embarrassed or unsure when talking about these changes.” Source link
©Reuters Shale oil drilling in the Vaca Muerta formation in Patagonia About 1,000km south-west of Buenos Aires, a drill rig towers over a low plateau of Patagonian scrubland. Inside a cabin nearby, engineers working for YPF, Argentina’s state-controlled oil company, use a computer screen to monitor the steady advance of the drill: it has so far bored some 3,300 metres into what the company hopes is some of the best rock on earth. This is the latest so-called “unconventional” oil well being sunk in the Loma Campana field — a joint venture between YPF and Chevron, the US oil producer. Loma Campana taps the resources of the Vaca Muerta formation — a layer of shale bearing oil and gas that can be liberated by fracking, just as similar resources in Texas and elsewhere have transformed the US’s energy supply. Will such shale resources do the same for Argentina? Hopes are high: Vaca Muerta — which covers 30,000 sq km and is hundreds of metres thick — is one of the assets that put Argentina among the countries best endowed with shale oil and gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration. “In terms of productivity Vaca Muerta compares very favourably. If you look at current well results there, the best are in line with the top shale plays in the US,” says Horacio Cuenca, research director for Latin America at industry analysts Wood Mackenzie. Development of the fields here will play a key part in solving one of Argentina’s great conundrums: the disparity between its huge energy potential and its rickety energy supply. This potential is based not just on reserves of hydrocarbons such as Vaca Muerta, where companies such as Dow Chemical, Exxon and Total are also among the investors. Argentina is also ideally placed to generate renewable energy, across sparsely populated regions from sun-baked deserts to windswept Patagonia. Yet as a producer Argentina languishes, having gone from being a net exporter to today relying on imported gas and diesel to keep the lights on. Generating capacity, like the current account deficit, is under strain. Juan José Aranguren, a former head of Shell in Argentina appointed as energy minister by president Mauricio Macri, lays much of the blame at the door of the previous government for distorting the energy market with subsidised domestic energy prices, boosting demand while creating a disincentive to supply. The tariff structure for domestic energy that Macri’s government inherited was only covering about 10 per cent of generating costs, Aranguren says. “Argentina got used to basically having energy that was next to free.” But his attempts to change the situation have already brought severe protests that show the size of the task confronting the government. Vocal opposition to his tarifazo — his attempt to raise domestic energy prices by several hundred per cent — are already showing that energy is an important battleground for the government if its reform agenda is to be cemented and implemented. Daniel Montamat, a former energy minister and analyst, identifies two priorities for Argentina. First, to increase domestic natural gas supply to fill the gap being plugged by imports from Bolivia and Chile as well as by liquefied natural gas. Second, to diversify the country’s sources of electricity generation away from reliance on fossil fuels — something Macri’s government is starting to do with a programme to raise the tiny share of power generated from renewable sources. ©Redux/eyevine A cluster of signs for transport in the Vaca Muerta field Another analyst, Francisco Mezzadri, reckons it will take until 2030 to restore to Argentina’s power generating capacity a comfortable reserve margin to cope with sporadic peaks in power use or maintenance outages. The necessary investment could amount to $4.5bn annually, he says. This year the government has awarded 2,900MW in thermal generation contracts and in recent months has also tendered for at least 1,000MW of renewable energy supply, in a bid to start expanding and renewing generating capacity. Yet if Argentina’s return to financial markets gives more grounds for optimism that the country can attract investment to its energy sector, the currently depressed global prices of oil and gas present strong headwinds. Energy is a key battleground for the government if its reform agenda is to be implemented Argentina has endeavoured to shelter the industry from some of the downturn, maintaining a minimum domestic price for oil and gas that is higher than the international market price. Aranguren says this measure has also safeguarded jobs and revenues in many provinces. But in the long term only a continued drive to improve the competitiveness of the country’s oil and gas resources will have the desired effect — and a key part will be played by the drill rigs of the Vaca Muerta fields. “Shale is the future of hydrocarbons in Argentina,” says Daniel González, chief financial officer of YPF. Ernesto López Anadón, president of the Argentine Institute of Oil and Gas (IAPG), cites three advantages for Argentina in shale in Vaca Muerta: the quality and quantity of the resource; the basin’s sparse population, allied with plenty of the water resources that fracking needs; and the fact that the basin has been part of Argentina’s conventional oil and gas fields for decades, so has plenty of necessary infrastructure. In Neuquén, the regional capital that is a hub for operations in the Vaca Muerta, Pablo Bizzotto, the regional head of YPF’s unconventionals business, says rapid improvements in drilling methods and local availability of key supplies such as sand, are helping to cut costs and raise returns. “We are half a year ahead of where we wanted to be,” he says. “We want everything that is good in Loma Campana to happen in other fields too. We need to keep the learning curve as short as possible.” ©Matías Subat Measured against these improvements are complaints from many in the industry about Argentina’s disadvantages. These include inadequate road infrastructure and high labour costs: drill crews, protected by strong trade unions, typically have more workers than in
A number of MPs have called for the National Grid to be broken up to revolutionise the energy supply of the UK. The National Grid runs the country’s electricity system and is one of the 20 largest companies in Britain with a £36 billion market value. Now, MP’s on the cross-party select committee believe that the company should be split up due to various conflicts of interest within the organisation. However, shareholders may find that such a decision could prove costly as shown by past attempts to shake up the company – Energy Secretary, Amber Rudd, proposed revolutionising the way the National Grid was run and as a result shares dipped significantly, although they later improved. There are three different sections of the company – it owns assets like interconnectors that bring over foreign power to the UK, it runs the system to ensure that lights stay on and it owns the pylons and wires that carry electricity around the UK. In recent years, the company’s imports of power from abroad have proved especially profitable for the organisation as the country has been reliant on imports of electricity to make sure the power keeps running. The company posted annual profits last month, spurred by the £123 million in operating profit from the interconnector with France, which is an increase of 19% on the year before. However, critics argue that the National Grid should not be in possession of such a profitable asset, while also running the system that takes out and uses power from it, although the company say that safeguards have been put in place to ensure a separation of the two functions. There are now consultations between Ministers about the structure of the company, with company chiefs saying that they are still considering splitting it up entirely. National Grid say that they are currently still in talks with the government and regulators to make sure that they keep managing any potential conflicts.
Legal & General is set to inject £65 million into a regeneration project in Newcastle as it teams up with Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University for the new £350 million development of Newcastle Science Central. Newcastle Science Central is one of the biggest urban regeneration projects of its kind in the country and is situated next to St James’s Park football stadium in the Accelerated Development Zone of the city. The science and technology hub is built across 10 hectares and is to be built on the former Newcastle Brown Ale brewery in the city centre and is expected to create over 4,000 jobs, 450 new homes and 500,000 sq ft of office space. Legal & General says that its initial investment of £65 million will deliver over 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space. LGIM Real Assets’ investment and development director, Gordon Aitchison, said that the firm’s new partnership with Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council shows how important the public and private sector partnerships model is in pushing forward urban regeneration projects in the UK. He added that the firm has been able to put forward the required skills and capital to advance the Newcastle Science Central project, while local government has given the necessary support and access to create the opportunity. He concluded that LGIM Real Assets is looking forward to working with its new partners on the exciting project and will attract more investment into the area. Legal & General is planning to invest a further £15 billion into infrastructure, urban regeneration projects and direct investments in the UK, while it has already pumped in over £7 billion. The deal for the Newcastle project is the fourth one to be delivered since Legal & General started its partnership with the Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) in January last year.
The number of retired people living in private rented accommodation in the UK has increased by 200,000 over the last four years, according to the latest poll. The National Landlords Association (NLA) survey has shown a growth of 13% in the proportion of retired private renters since 2012 as more and more people are turning to the private rented sector. The South East is the area with the highest proportion of retired people renting private accommodation, with 17%. Whereas London is home to the smallest proportion of those renting in retirement, with just 3%. The North West is home to almost four times as many retired renters with 15%, while the figure is 8% in the West Midlands, 4% in the East Midlands and 4% in the North East. However, in the same time frame, the proportion of landlords letting to retired renters has decreased by almost half, with 9% of landlords currently letting to retirees, in comparison with 19% in 2012. These statistics indicate that it is likely to become more difficult in future for those coming into retirement to find suitable rented accommodation, particularly in areas of high demand, according to NLA chairwoman Carolyn Uphill. She explained that there are an increasing number of people turning to private rented housing and every stage of their lives, including retirement age, and that landlords appreciate the assurances and stability that older households often provide. However, she added that landlords are finding it more and more difficult to build their businesses around the requirements of potentially vulnerable tenants. Ms Uphill also commented that private landlords may soon be unable to provide homes in expensive areas like Central London to anyone who does not have a well paid job due to the huge impact of the Government’s tax changes, pension provision uncertainty and welfare budget cuts.
The state oil company of Kazakhstan has tightened its grip on its UK based unit over opposition from some of its independent directors and has set up a further boardroom battle at another London based Kazakh oil firm. KazMunaiGas, a national company which is fully owned by the Kazakh state called an extraordinary general meeting on Friday to go over its relationship agreement with KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, the London based subsidiary which it holds a 63% stake in. The firm also offered to buy out and minority shareholders who were not happy with the changes that were enforces. KMG EP’s independent directors said that they would offer their resignations if the proposals got the green light and argued that they would massively weaken the protections given to independent shareholders. The strife between the Kazakh oil firm and its subsidiary is reminiscent of the long running tussle between mining company Eurasia Natural Resources Corporation and its independent directors from the UK. In 2013, ENRC left the London market under a could of corruption allegations and boardroom battles, which dealt a sizeable blow to the international reputation of Kazakhstan. This latest battle will be a major test of the country’s approach to investors from abroad as it prepares for a programme of ambitious privatisation. The central Asian country announced plans last year to float minority stakes in some of its biggest firms, which include NC KMG. The relationship agreements between the Kazakh oil firm and its subsidiary was introduced to protect minority shareholders when KMG EP listed 10 years ago and gave substantial power to the three independent directors of the firm. NC KMG is now arguing that further alterations to the agreement will be necessary in order to reduce bureaucracy and bring in plans that will make the operations of KMG EP more efficient. The proposed alterations would have to be approved by at least half of the minority shareholders who vote at the EGM on August 3.
Highways England has awarded its final two contracts as part of its new delivery arrangements in the reorganisation of the East Midlands maintenance programme. Ahead of Highways England bringing operations and asset management functions back in house in the East Midlands from the start of next month, all key Area 7 contracts are now in place. Rogers Structural Inspections, a Derby based firm, has been awarded the contract for structural inspections, which Aspin acquired in October 2014 and has a value of around £3 million over the next five years. Meanwhile, the Met Office has secured the weather forecasting contract, which will run for a minimum of three years and is worth around £1 million. The award of these two latest contracts comes after last month’s appointment of suppliers to the new East Midlands framework for construction works. The framework will provide a number of services, which include general civil engineering, landscaping, drainage and pavement. Highways England marked the changes in delivery by recently holding a launch event with it supply chain at its new Mansfield-based office. Along with the newly appointed construction work contractors, representatives from Amey, the maintenance and response contractor, were also in attendance, along with design services contractor, Kier (Mouchel). Highways England’s Director for Commercial and Procurement, David Poole, said that the establishment of the community by working with their supply chain partners will be crucial to the new approach to delivery and asset maintenance in the East Midlands being successful. He added that the organisation is looking forward to working in collaboration with their new colleagues from the supply chain over the next few months and years. Among the other contractors that have been appointed to the Construction Works Framework are Ground Control (Landscape and Ecology), J. McCann & Co (Nottingham) (Road Lighting and Electrical Works), Jointline (Road Markings) and Taziker Industrial (Corrosion Protection).
The Olympic Park slide is set to open next week as the final pieces have now been put in place on the slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower. The construction firm, Mace, says the 178 metre long and 76 metre high tunnel slide at the landmark is now ready for business, with the aim of helping to recoup costs and generating more revenue for the site. The ArcelorMittal Orbit slide is set to open for rides on June 24, 2016, with tickets now on sale for £10 a go for 40 seconds of fun. The new attraction is built from 30 stainless steel tube sections, each of which are 800mm in diameter by 3mm of thickness. A specialist team of abseilers lifted the five and nine metre sections into place by using pulleys and ropes that were designed specifically for the completion of the project. Carsten Holler, a German-Belgian artist, designed the slide which incorporates 12 twists and turns, with one tight section nicknames the ‘bettfedder’ – which is so called after the German word for bedspring, and ends with a 50 metre straight run down to the floor. The concept was initially designed to have the slide wrapped fully around the tower but this was refused due to the detrimental structural impact of the design, so the slide now squiggles down just one side of the tower. Mace supervised the construction, and Derry Power, the firm’s project manager, said that the iconic project will give visitors to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the local community a new fun attraction to enjoy. He added that the slide is the result of a fantastic collaboration between specialist contractors, project managers, engineers, designers and artists. Mr Power also commented that all involved in the project put in lots of extra work to ensure the design was spot on, before developing and installing the slide which will be a symbol of the park’s lasting legacy for many years.
