Chevron Comes Closer
Austin-based Swinerton Builders Texas has been named as the builder of the state-of-the-art office complex and campus that Chevron is to develop in Midland. The campus will support Chevron’s goal of providing a world-class facility for its West Texas Permian Basin operations, allowing them to attract talented new employees and support future growth in Midland. Swinerton officials have said they are excited to continue their company’s long-lasting relationship with Chevron that began when Swinerton built the Standard Oil of California Office Building in the 1920s.
The Chevron Midland Campus, designed by HOK, a leading global design, architecture, engineering, and planning firm, is situated on 25 acres west of the Scharbauer Sports Complex and will consist of two 4-story buildings connected by a walkway, a fitness center, a cafeteria, a training facility, mission critical components, and a central plant, totaling approximately 340,000 square feet, plus a parking structure with space to accommodate more than 700 vehicles. The buildings’ enclosure will be a unitized, high-performance curtainwall system. Construction is expected to begin mid-summer 2013 with completion anticipated in 2015. The project aims at a LEED Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
“Swinerton is pleased to again work and collaborate with Chevron and continue our nearly 100-year relationship,” said Swinerton’s Scott Tomhave, who oversees the Texas operations. “This project is a defining win for continued operations in Texas and showcases our depth of talent, safety record, and wide range of services.”
Management at Swinerton credited the selection of their firm to the safety record, execution plan, and recent successful experience in Midland of the Swinerton team. The project is being managed out of Swinerton’s Austin office.
More on Oil and Gas Awards
The Oil & Gas Awards nominations for the Southwest, West Coast, and Midcontinent regions are now open. Following their inaugural series in the Rocky Mountain, Northeast, and Gulf Coast regions, the Oil and Gas Awards’ call for entries has begun for its trio of October Finals.
“The upstream and midstream community across the United States has embraced the Oil and Gas Awards as an opportunity to showcase its efforts to improve in areas of public interest,” says Daniel Creasey, CEO of the Oil & Gas Awards. There are categories for almost all organizations working in the sector.
The Oil and Gas Awards recognize the achievements that are made on an annual basis within the energy industry. The Awards are a platform for the industry to demonstrate and celebrate the advances made in the key areas of the environment, efficiency, innovation, corporate social responsibility, and health and safety. Permian Basin Oil and Gas magazine is a sponsor of the event.
The deadline for all three regions is August 9. Finalists will be announced in local and national press in early September.
The Awards are currently recruiting experienced E&P, midstream, and oilfield service professionals nationwide to sit on the executive judging panel. “Rather than have a popularity contest, our feedback has confirmed that the integrity and prestige of the Awards lies in having experienced people at the top of their careers judging specific categories they know best. We are currently inviting skilled professionals to join our impressive line up of judges,” added Creasey.
For information on the Oil and Gas Awards, visit OilandGasAwards.com.
Drillinginfo Acquires Transform
Drillinginfo Inc., the Austin-based provider of decision-support technology for the upstream oil and gas industry, has acquired Denver-based Transform Software and Services Inc., considered an industry leader in analytic interpretation and modeling, in a move that creates an entity that will deliver billions of dollars in exploration and production value and productivity gains for energy producers, according to its management.
“This is much more than an acquisition–this is central to our vision of enabling technical professionals at oil and gas companies to make faster and smarter decisions in order to provide us with low-cost energy,” said Allen Gilmer, CEO and chairman of Drillinginfo. “We’ve been watching Transform’s breakthrough technology evolve over the last few years, especially in today’s unconventional oil and gas plays. Hands down, their work is a multiyear leap forward relative to the rest of the industry and will be integral to our product strategy going forward.’’
Founded in 2004, Transform is a pioneer in the development of an analytics-based approach for visualizing, modeling, interpreting, and quantifying oil and gas reservoirs. Its suite of geophysical, geological, and engineering software delivers significant improvements for drilling and production optimization. Transform’s technology suite is software created to meet the challenges of unconventional oil and gas reservoir development, providing a tool for the commercialization of this global resource base. Building upon its experience in unconventional resource plays, Transform is increasingly being adopted as an solution for conventional, enhanced recovery and other exploration and production reservoir challenges.
“Transform represents an All-Star team of oilfield technology professionals and we are excited to have them as part of Drillinginfo,’’ said Gilmer. “The unique combination of Drillinginfo’s SaaS platform and industry-leading oil and gas exploration and production data, paired with Transform’s deep technical and analytic tools, will enable E&P companies to make much faster and better oil and gas decisions.”
Drillinginfo will retain Transform’s Denver-based office and all of its employees. Transform’s CEO and co-founder, Dean Witte, Ph.D., an industry veteran and geophysicist, has been named senior vice president of research for Drillinginfo and CEO of the Transform division. Murray Roth, Transform’s president and co-founder, is now vice president of worldwide consulting for Drillinginfo and president of the Transform division.
“Together we will provide the most advanced data, analysis, and decision-support solution for the E&P industry,” said Witte.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the transaction will bring immediate growth synergies to Drillinginfo in terms of skills, experience, and momentum to the combined companies.
Murray Roth, president of Transform, added, “We look forward to enhancing our customers’ analytic and interpretation results with the breadth of Drillinginfo data, enabling more accurate sweet spot targeting and more efficient well optimization.”
With its industry intelligence, analytics, tools, and services, Drillinginfo offers a widely adopted software platform in exploration and production, with clients ranging from the largest global enterprises to independent drillers, service providers, financial institutions, and investors.
Vaquero Capital served as the mergers and acquisitions advisor to Drillinginfo on this transaction.
Shale Show Slated
Permian Basin oil and gas professionals and area businesspeople are invited to Sweetwater—the heart of the Cline Shale and a hub of Texas oil and natural gas shale regions—to attend the 2013 Shale Show, which offers opportunities to learn about the latest technologies, network with shale innovators, and hear seminars on the magnitude and pace of oil and gas development in this multi-county West Texas region. At the Oct. 1-2 event, attendees will learn about issues common to the Cline Shale, Eagle Ford Shale, and Barnett Shale, as well as be briefed on Permian Basin initiatives. Admission is free, and the event is open to industry and the public. Paid sponsorships and exhibit opportunities are available. The event is to be held in the Nolan County Coliseum and 200+-acre Newman Park. Visit shale-show.com for information.