Royal Dutch Shell has lost $5 billion so far in 2015, TransCanada Corp. is staring at a $2-billion write-off following the U.S. rejection of its Keystone XL pipeline, and Baker Hughes said it took a 43% hit to earnings compared to last year, a measurement almost identical to the decline of North American oil-rig drilling over the same time.
Several top global construction firms have stepped up their efforts to partner with tech providers to offer full-service packages for utility-sector clients, which need as many fuel options and generating technologies as possible.
The global manufacturing sector continues to offer a wide range of design and construction opportunities, despite varying pressures that range from worldwide declining prices for oil and other commodities to the continued cooling of China’s economy.
India-based Essar Steel’s plan to build an iron-ore crusher and pellet mill on Minnesota’s Iron Range has become an epic construction struggle, with non-payment to contractors, past-due loans and another total work stoppage, says Barry Davies, business representative, International Association of Ironworkers Local 612, Minneapolis.
Construction of a new $1.55-billion, 550-kilometer multiproduct fuel pipeline linking landlocked Ethiopia and coastal Djibouti is set to commence next year.