Motiva Taps KBR For Refinery Expansion Design

After announcing a capital investment strategy to increase refining capacity at one or more of its petroleum product refineries in Texas and Louisiana, Motiva has selected KBR to provide early design services.

Motiva Planning Refinery Expansion

Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell Oil Co. and Saudi Refining Inc., has selected Houston-based KBR to provide conceptualization, planning and early design services for a major refinery expansion being considered by Motiva in the U.S. The 325,000 barrel-per-day capacity increase will be designed to process heavy sour crudes. KBR is the engineering, construction and services subsidiary of Halliburton.

"KBR is proud to play a vital role in this important project for Motiva," said Andy Lane, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Halliburton. "KBR brings to the table our long-standing experience in heavy oil projects, along with our mega-project execution model. Our unparalleled capabilities in front-end and detailed engineering, procurement, construction and operations and maintenance will be key to helping Motiva realize its objectives."

As one of the first major U.S. refinery expansion projects in 30 years, the strategic initiative is part of Motiva's plan announced in September to increase refining capacity at one or more of its petroleum product refineries. The company's Gulf Coast refineries are strategically located to supplement additional transportation fuels needed to meet the country's growing demands.

All three Motiva refineries have ready access to waterborne crude oil and major product pipelines, and are viable candidates for a refinery expansion. Motiva currently owns three refineries in the Gulf Coast area in Port Arthur; Convent, La; and Norco, La.

"In the past 10 years, KBR has been involved in the construction of more than 100 projects on the Gulf Coast," said Lou Pucher, senior vice president, KBR Energy and Chemicals. "And we are well-qualified to assist Motiva in meeting its plans to increase refinery capacity."

Barone and Sikes Form Alliance

Barone Design Group and Sikes Group Inc., both of Houston, recently announced the firms have formed a strategic alliance. Both firms have been stalwarts of the Houston architectural scene for more than twenty years.

The alliance will enable the firms to offer comprehensive interior and ground-up design services to leading corporate, commercial and institutional real estate organizations including health-care providers; oil and gas, financial services and hospitality companies. The two firms are co-locating at One Northwest Center in Houston.

"Our goal is to leverage our synergies to offer clients in the Houston area and beyond total interior and exterior architectural design solutions," said Dean Barone, co-founder and president of Barone Design Group. "Together we can more comprehensively address the demand for new facilities in healthcare, hospitality and corporate markets."

"The alliance provides our firm with acute design and interiors expertise," said Herschel Sikes, founder and president, Sikes Group. "When combined with our architectural and construction management background, we now have the capability to offer our clients integrated expertise and a total service package."

Barone Design Group specializes in creating corporate workplace environments and highly technical, industrial, research and development and manufacturing facilities for leading companies worldwide. Sikes Group has extensive ground-up architectural and project-construction management experience. The new collaborative relationship enables the firms to offer clients an integrated solution to their facility requirements.

Barone Design Group has worked with leading corporations including Amoco, Exxon, Hines, Landmark Graphics, Texaco, Shell and Veritas. The firm manages large-scale corporate and facilities projects nationally and internationally providing clients with full-service interior architecture capabilities.

Hoss Wins Business Award

Irving-based Hoss Equipment Co. recently won the small to mid-sized business category at the Greater Dallas Chamber's International Business Achievement Awards luncheon.

Finalists in the category reflected the possibilities in the area of international business ranging from network communications providers to manufacturers of beauty

supplies, heavy machinery and transportation equipment. Hoss Equipment stood out for demonstrating its continued growth, impressive international expansion and efforts in serving the Greater Dallas community. Said founder and CEO Gregg Hoss: "It is a sincere honor to receive this award in recognition of the planning, hard work and long hours put in by a lot of people to make this achievement possible. We simply could not have supported increased sales to all corners of the world without continuing access to quality used equipment available through our global purchasing network. Our experienced team reworks the acquired machines at our Rebuild Center in Irving."