Feral Jundi

Monday, April 19, 2010

Iraq: Schlumberger Oil Services Giant Builds A FOB For It’s Operations

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:54 AM

    The company is finishing up work on a 40-acre compound near Basra. Earlier this month, several dozen employees moved in and set up a mobile barracks. Schlumberger said it expected to have 300 employees there by July and nearly double that by the end of the year.

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There are 36,000 oil field workers in Iraq, according to R. P. Eddy, chief executive of emerging markets consultant Ergo, and he expects that number to rise to 76,000 by 2015. 

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   So if anyone knows what security company they are working with, go ahead and put that in the comments or send me the stuff and I will make an edit. My guess is that this will provide a ton of jobs for Iraqis and expats–both for security work but all just oil industry work.  Something to keep an eye on. –Matt

Edit: 4/21/2010- This recent article in Businessweek details even more companies that are moving into Iraq.

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Schlumberger Gambles on Iraq Work

APRIL 16, 2010

By RUSSELL GOLD

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield service company, has begun staffing an Iraqi business operation, one of the first such moves by a western energy company in decades.

The company is finishing up work on a 40-acre compound near Basra. Earlier this month, several dozen employees moved in and set up a mobile barracks. Schlumberger said it expected to have 300 employees there by July and nearly double that by the end of the year.

Chief Executive Andrew Gould said in an interview from his office in Paris that he believes the security situation has improved considerably in the past year, and the opportunity to provide support to major oil firms is building. If security improves and oilfield work increases, a $3 billion to $4 billion market annually is possible by mid-decade, he said.

The situation in southern Iraq no longer resembles the chaos that engulfed the country five years ago. It has become “more traditional risk of tribal disturbance and banditry rather than any politically motivated security incident,” he said.

Unlike companies working in Iraq under government or military contract, Schlumberger symbolizes the nascent return by western corporations to the country, where many of the world’s largest oilfields are being opened up to foreign oil companies for the first time in a generation.

(more…)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Afghanistan: Afghan IEDs Show Rapid Adaptation

Filed under: Afghanistan,DIY,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 2:09 AM

   Mr. Grant put together a great summation of the research done on IED’s.  Bottom line, today’s booger eaters throughout the world are learning to make this stuff faster than their other booger eater predecessors. That is the down side of the internet and open source media.  Everyone can play bomb maker these days.

   There are some down sides to this for the enemy.  It still takes skill and experience to safely make these things, and this statistic below does not show how many ‘oops’ deaths have been caused by this explosion of open source IED manufacturing.  A prime example is the Frontline video on the Taliban, which showed this beautifully.

   One thing that bothers me about this, is that contractors continue to be killed by this stuff and there really isn’t an effort focused on protecting them like there is with the military.  Is this a case where it is every company for itself, or should there be an effort to coordinate the civilian operations or create a JIEDDO group for contractors so we can work to minimize our deaths as well? The irony is that contractors are used in this organization, but they really don’t do much to help out contractors.  Has anyone from JIEDDO talked with any of the expat companies to go over IED survival or the latest counter measures? Or how about collect information from contractors, to add to the matrix being set up at your JKnIFE shops?

   Personally, I know the answer to this question. The military could care less. So companies adapt and they have their own ways of learning how to deal with IEDs.  Everyone talks with everyone out there, and after a few hits on your company, guys really start focusing on and refining countermeasures for IEDs.  Some companies can afford all the cool gadgets to stop or detect this stuff, where others have to resort to other cheaper methods. Or you get some of the local national companies that just take the hits, and could care less about armor or gadgets–partly do to cost and partly do to a lack of any regulation for such a thing.  With that said, it would still be cool to hear about JIEDDO or someone similar address the issues that contractors face on the road. (by the way, check out their FB page here)  Contractors after all are bringing in the food, ammo, water, fuel, and everything else that the military needs to wage war, and with a little help we might actually get more of that stuff to the military in one piece. Not to mention save a few of those lowly contractor lives. –Matt 

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Afghan IEDs Show Rapid Adaptation

By Greg Grant

Monday, April 12th, 2010

At a New America Foundation sponsored event today in Washington, researcher Alec Barker presented an impressive collection of data on IED attacks in southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan that show not only more attacks but an acceleration of bomb making skill and use.

Thoroughly schooled in Iraq, where techniques were refined over the years, the IED bomber guild has increased in size and skill and taken their know-how on the road, compressing the training cycle. The rapid pace of innovation in consumer electronics which are used in most triggering devices, has allowed bombers to jump from one triggering method to another as soon as countermeasures show up in the field. With plenty of targets in the form of foreign troops, Afghan insurgents, as with Iraqi insurgents, are able to continually refine and evolve their tactics.

(more…)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Industry Talk: Cerberus Agrees To Acquire DynCorp In $1.5 Billion Deal

Filed under: Finance,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:00 AM

   “Private-equity firms are focusing on defense service providers rather than hardware makers, making a calculation that military demand for services will hold up better than hardware in the years ahead,” Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute….

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   This is a big deal.  When a company like Cerberus pulls the trigger on purchasing DynCorp, along with previous purchases of IAP Worldwide Services, Tier 1 Group and Radia Holdings, I tend to take notice.  Cerberus is reading the tea leaves of defense and positioning themselves to own the companies that will matter in the future.  To me, this signifies that defense services, as opposed to defense hardware makers, is the new ‘big sexy’ in defense.

   It also tells me that Cerberus is doing their homework.  I have never been contacted by their people, but I am sure they have been reading through all the strategy papers and forward looking stuff that is produced by all the think tanks to come to their conclusions.  Plus they have two long and expensive wars to study along with the GWOT.  They have made their determinations about the future of defense, and these chess moves say a lot.  This is a recognition of the fact that contractors are a strategic necessity for our future wars, and now investors are catching on.

   The other point on this is DynCorp’s current owner Robert McKeon (Veritas Capital) made a lot of money on this deal. Very impressive return on investment if you ask me. –Matt

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Bill Ballhaus Talks About DynCorp Acquisition

April 12th, 2010

by John Adams

Bill Ballhaus, an ExecutiveBiz 2009 Person to Watch and CEO of security giant DynCorp (NYSE: DCP) shared his thoughts on his firm being purchased by Cerberus for the cool sum of $1.5 billion.

“I believe that under this partnership with Cerberus, DynCorp International will be able to build on our extensive heritage and successful performance to continue to achieve our growth objectives.” He added, “this transaction is a major milestone for DynCorp International’s continued leadership in serving our customers and supporting U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.”

Link to quote here.

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Cerberus Agrees to Acquire DynCorp in $1 Billion Deal

April 12, 2010

By Emily Thornton and Gopal Ratnam

April 12 (Bloomberg) — Cerberus Capital Management LP, the private-equity firm whose takeover of Chrysler Corp. ended in bankruptcy, agreed to buy defense contractor DynCorp International Inc. for about $1 billion.

Cerberus, run by Steve Feinberg, will pay $17.55 a share, Falls Church, Virginia-based DynCorp said today in a statement. The price is 49 percent more than DynCorp’s closing share price on the New York Stock Exchange on April 9. The deal, expected to close in the third or fourth quarter, is valued at $1.5 billion including the assumption of debt.

DynCorp, which helps train Iraqi police and supports the U.S.’s operation of military bases, is at least the fifth government-services investment that Cerberus has made since 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cerberus owns government contractors including IAP Worldwide Services Inc., Tier 1 Group and Radia Holdings Inc.

“Private-equity firms are focusing on defense service providers rather than hardware makers, making a calculation that military demand for services will hold up better than hardware in the years ahead,” Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a public policy research group in Arlington, Virginia, said in a telephone interview.

DynCorp rose 48 percent, the most since its initial public offering four years ago, to $17.41 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

(more…)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Industry Talk: Can The Government Force Contractors To Unionize?

Filed under: Industry Talk,Legal News — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:26 AM

   It’s a basic question, and I have not a clue about how this would pertain to government contracts in the war.  I am sure there is some clause for overseas contingency operations that do not allow labor unions with wartime contracts.  I could be wrong, and this is an area that is way out of my lane. (any legal eagles want to step in, or maybe even the folks at IPOA)

   Plus, with how globalized contracting has become with DoD and DoS contracts, I just don’t see how you could force some Sri Lankan working at the DEFAC for KBR to pay the dues for some union.  There are just so many pieces to this, and I really have never explored this area.

   Now I have heard of numerous discussions amongst contractors while working out there, revolving around organizing. Most of the times, it was all talk born from poor labor practices of companies.  There have even been some attempts at creating unions for this industry, but nothing with any teeth or longevity. I could be wrong, and there might be some solid stuff out there that I am not aware of.  I know for CONUS, there are security related unions.  But for OCONUS, I have yet to see it.

   For fun though, what would happen if we were forced to be unionize?  Would that be a good thing, or a bad thing? –Matt

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Can the Government Force Contractors to Unionize?

By Jim Garrettson

March 29, 2010

Executive order 13502 [1]from February 2009 garnered relatively little attention when it was issued.   It reads, “in order to promote the efficient administration and completion of Federal construction projects,” executive agencies are allowed to require contractors working on federal construction projects to implement “Project Labor Agreements.”

This order applies to any construction, renovation or rehabilitation project that costs over $25 million, and encompasses all agencies but the GAO.  The order also rescinded Bush’s Executive Order 13202 [2]from February, 2001, which prohibits the government from requiring contractors to abide by these agreements, or discriminating against contractors for “refusing to become or remain signatories or otherwise to adhere to agreements with one or more labor organizations, on the same or other related construction project(s).”

Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) [3] require all employees working on a specific project to abide by the same collective bargaining agreement.  This enables the hiring of non-unionized contractors, but typically requires them to pay into multi-employer union pension plans, putting non-union contractors at a financial disadvantage because they must pay for the union plan and for their existing company plan, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors [4].  Another problem for contractors is that many union pension funds are underwater, according to this recent article in the Washington Times [5].  Employers bound to collectively bargained agreements are forced to cover costs for underfunded union pensions when other contractors drop out.

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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Kidnap And Ransom: Family Rejoices At Release Of Contractor Issa Salomi In Iraq

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq,Kidnap And Ransom — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 3:32 AM

   Excellent news and I am glad this ended well for the family and Issa. –Matt

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Family rejoices at release of contractor in Iraq

By ELLIOT SPAGAT

March 28, 2010

SAN DIEGO — The family of an Iraqi-American contractor said to have been kidnapped in Baghdad in January rejoiced Saturday over his release, saying they did not believe they would see him alive again.

Issa Salomi, 60, spoke with his 27-year-old son Roger Friday and told him that memories of the birth of the oldest of his four boys sustained him during captivity, said Vivian Tilley, a niece.

A few hours later, Salomi called his wife of 30 years, Muna Salomi, and asked for her homemade tabbouleh when he arrived home.

“I was screaming,” Muna Salomi said in interview Saturday. “Really, I didn’t think he’d be alive … I can’t wait to hug him and put him in my arms.”

A Shiite extremist group claimed responsibility for the Jan. 23 kidnapping and posted a video online that showed a man wearing military fatigues, reading a list demands for the release of militants, the prosecution of Blackwater guards and an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.

A Pentagon statement Saturday said only that Salomi was back under military control, but gave no details on his disappearance or return. The statement said the circumstances of the case are under investigation.

Muna Salomi was told to be prepared to reunite with her husband within the next week at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. She, like other family members, said she didn’t know the circumstances of his abduction, captivity or release.

(more…)

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