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 Located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, the penitentiary was once home to gangsters and criminals including Al Capone, Alvin ‘Creepy’ Karpis, and George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly. Now, archaeologists have used ground-penetrating radar data and terrestrial laser scans to non-destructively uncover a hidden military traverse underneath the prison. Led by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York, the team also made use of georectifications – where old digitised maps are linked to a coordinate system so that they can be accurately geolocated in 3D space – to locate and assess the historical remains.
The team’s methods revealed that remnants of buried structures – including a "bombproof" earthwork traverse along with its underlying vaulted brick masonry tunnel and ventilation ducts – ran east to west beneath the prison recreation yard. "The remains of these historical archaeology features were just a few centimetres beneath the surface and they were miraculously and impeccably preserved," said Binghamton University archaeologist Timothy de Smet. "The concrete veneer of the recreation yard floor is incredibly thin and, in fact, in places sitting directly atop the architecture from the 1860s. We also learned that some of the earthwork traverses were covered over with thin concrete layers through time, likely to decrease erosion on the rainy windy island. It was wonderful to find the history just beneath our feet that we can visualise for the public." View the full article on The Engineer. |
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Alberta is preparing a giant crude-by-rail operation to help its oil-sands producers cope with a pipeline crunch, and it expects a big profit from the venture.
The Canadian province, which holds the world’s third-largest crude reserves, plans to net C$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) after investing C$3.7 billion to lease tank cars and buy service from rail providers, generating C$5.9 billion from sales and increased royalty and tax revenue, according to a statement on Tuesday.
The rail plan is one of Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s signature moves to help the province’s oil producers, who have been hurt by pipeline shortages that have made it difficult to ship their crude to refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast, weighing on prices. The plan also comes after Notley mandated production cuts to ease the strain on shipping capacity and work down a glut of oil that had built up in storage.
Not all oil companies have the capital to invest in crude by rail, Notley said at a press conference Tuesday in explaining why government intervention was necessary.
“That’s why it was important to step up,” she said.
The deal reached with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. entails leasing 4,400 rail cars over three years, buying crude from the province’s producers, and then shipping the oil to various markets throughout North America. The province expects to generate revenue from the profit it turns on selling crude to refiners, as well as from the higher oil prices that the additional shipping capacity will support.
Key Goals Add 120,000 barrels a day of crude-by-rail capacity over three years Lease 4,400 rail cars for three years Shrink Canadian crude discount by $4 a barrel over two yearsAlberta’s investment in rail comes as companies struggle to get new oil pipelines built to get Alberta’s crude to markets even as production rose and pipeline bottlenecks developed, causing heavy Canadian crude’s discount to West Texas Intermediate futures to widen to $50 a barrel in October.
“The investment in crude by rail and the elevation of the amount of crude going by rail comes as a result of successive federal government failings” to get new pipelines approved and built, Notley said Tuesday.
Last year, Canada’s federal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan Inc. to keep alive a project to expand the only pipeline that carries Alberta’s crude to the Pacific Coast. That project later suffered a setback when a court ruled that the National Energy Board would have to resume regulatory hearings.
The rail service will begin in July with about 20,000 barrels a day before ramping up to its full capacity of 120,000 barrels a day by mid-2020. The province is still in negotiations with potential refiners, but expects to sell to refiners within Canada and along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“Absolutely no risk” exists in finding markets for the oil and that the oil would displace rail shipments of agricultural and other commodities, Notley said.
Companies including Imperial Oil Ltd. have criticized the government’s intervention in the market, saying the mandatory production curtailments caused the price difference between Canadian crude and competing grades elsewhere to narrow so much that shipping by rail is no longer economic. The discount of Western Canadian Select shrank to less than $7 a barrel last month. Amid the criticism, Notley’s government recently reduced curtailment to 250,000 barrels a day from 325,000 barrels a day and the price discount has since widened to $15 a barrel.
“We anticipate that differentials will get back to rail economics very soon,” she said.
The rail plan has a few differences from the outline Notley provided in a speech in November. The lease of 4,400 rail cars, without buying or leasing locomotives, is less than the 7,000 cars and 80 locomotives originally planned. The lower figure came about through negotiations with the rail lines and more efficient routes, the province said.
“We are confident that this will turn out to be a good business decision for taxpayers,” she said. “The risk is in doing nothing.”
via Bloomberg
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Thursday it had taken a stake in Suncor Energy Inc, sending the U.S.-listed shares of the oil and gas producer up 4 percent in after-market trading.
Berkshire said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has a stake of 10.8 million shares in the company, representing about 0.7 percent of Suncor’s total outstanding shares, according to Eikon data from Refinitiv.
Article via Reuters.
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 FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Endeavor Robotic Holdings, Inc., a leading developer of battle-tested, tactical unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for the global military, public safety, and critical infrastructure markets, from Arlington Capital Partners for $385 million in cash. Endeavor’s highly-mobile and easy to operate ground robots utilize advanced sensing and actuation in providing explosive ordnance disposal, reconnaissance, inspection, and hazardous materials support for troops, police, and industrial users at stand-off range. Along with the recent acquisition of Aeryon Labs, FLIR has significantly expanded its unmanned systems capabilities.Based outside Boston and formerly known as iRobot Defense & Security, Endeavor has shipped more than 7,000 UGVs to customers in over 55 countries. Their robots have been deployed in numerous applications, including by police and SWAT teams, by first responders, and at nuclear power and industrial plants. Endeavor is one of the largest UGV providers to the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD), and a key supplier of unmanned systems for the accelerating modernization of global military and law enforcement operational assets. Having recently been awarded the U.S. Army’s Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) contract, Endeavor is a major participant in several programmatic opportunities with the U.S. DoD and its ally militaries worldwide.
"The acquisition of Endeavor Robotics, coupled with previous acquisitions of Aeryon Labs and Prox Dynamics, has positioned FLIR as a leading unmanned solutions provider and advances the strategy we detailed at our Investor Day last year," said Jim Cannon, President and CEO of FLIR Systems. "This acquisition aligns with our evolution from sensors to intelligent sensing and ultimately solutions that save lives and livelihoods. Endeavor’s momentum with the U.S. DoD and other global defense and police forces provides us significant opportunity to participate in long-term franchise programs and will help us create growth for the company."
Having the largest deployed fleet of tactical robotics systems in the world, Endeavor has over 30 years of proven experience in advanced ruggedized UGVs. The company’s family of UGVs covers a broad spectrum of robot weight classes, from the five-pound throwable FirstLook® reconnaissance robot to the 500-pound Kobra™ heavy-lift robot, and all models are controllable under one common command and control system. Endeavor’s modular approach to design also allows for varying payloads and sensor systems for the needs of each customer, including imaging and reconnaissance, vehicle and room inspection, bomb disposal, hazardous materials detection and disposal, radiation monitoring, and route clearance.
"Joining forces with FLIR Systems will allow Endeavor to take its life-saving technology to the next level, so we can better serve the warfighter, the police officer, and the first responder who use our robots on the frontlines every day," said Sean Bielat, CEO of Endeavor. "We’re excited to be part of a company that sees its strategic growth in unmanned systems and will invest in our products, platforms and people. It is a tremendous fit and we look forward to the mission ahead."
Upon closing of the acquisition, which is expected in the first quarter of 2019, Endeavor will be part of the FLIR Government and Defense Business Unit’s Unmanned Systems and Integrated Solutions division. The transaction is expected to be $0.03 dilutive to FLIR Systems’ 2019 adjusted earnings per share due to borrowing costs associated with funding the transaction, and accretive thereafter. FLIR Systems’ management will discuss this strategic acquisition during its 2018 Q4 earnings call scheduled for February 13, at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
About FLIR Systems
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon, FLIR Systems is a world-leading maker of sensor systems that enhance perception and heighten awareness, helping to save lives, improve productivity, and protect the environment. Through its nearly 3,700 employees, FLIR Systems’ vision is to be "The World’s Sixth Sense" by leveraging thermal imaging and adjacent technologies to provide innovative, intelligent solutions for security and surveillance, environmental and condition monitoring, outdoor recreation, machine vision, navigation, and advanced threat detection.
Article via FLIR website.
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