News

Foreign buyers announced 17 deals in

3Q 2014, accounting for $22.1 B in value,
during the same period as last year and was
the most deal activity in the last five years.
Corporate transactions led total deal
value during the quarter, representing
$99.1 B, or 81% of total deal value for 3Q
2014. The 20 corporate transactions in
the quarter represented the highest quarterly level since 4Q 2012.
According to PwC, there were 36
deals with values > $50 MM related to
shale plays in 3Q 2014, totaling $26.6 B,
or 46% and 22% of total deal volume and
value, respectively.
The most active shale plays for M&A
with values >$50 MM during 3Q 2014 include the Eagle Ford in Texas, which had
seven deals with a total value of $1.8 B,
followed by the Bakken with six deals representing $8.6 B. The Permian play had
five deals worth $7.8 B, and the Marcellus
Shale had four deals valued at $1.1 B.
Financial investors continued to show
interest in the O&G industry with six total transactions, accounting for $4 B during 3Q 2014.

New center supports

shale oil and gas industry
ABB, the Zurich-based technology
leader, has dedicated its 100,000-sqft manufacturing and R&D facility at
Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The facility
manufactures gas measurement and
automation products for the upstream,
midstream and downstream segments
as part of the Oil & Gas Solutions division of ABB.
Of the 100,000-sq-ft expansion,
65,000 sq ft are dedicated to manufacturing, 30,000 sq ft to office space and
5,000 sq ft to the engineering R&D lab,
explained Gayle Lester, general manager
of the Bartlesville facility.
Originally known as Applied Automations Inc. (AAI), an R&D project
launched in 1982 by the Phillips Petroleum Co., the Bartlesville facility is now
part of the Totalflow product group in
ABBs Process Automation division. ABB
acquired AAI in 1999.
The Bartlesville expansion is a great
example of the renaissance of American

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manufacturing, said Greg Scheu, ABB

executive vice president and region manager for North America. The opportunity going forward is tremendous in
America. The underlying fundamentals
are strong, especially in oil and gas and
its downstream derivatives.
The Oil and Gas Solutions division
has achieved 148% growth since 2009,
primarily as a result of the dramatic increase in gas and liquids production in
North Americas shale plays.

FIG. 3. ABBs new Oklahoma-based

automation and R&D facility will support
the growing development of North Americas
shale oil and gas industries.

Hydrocarbon Processing|DECEMBER 201417