Westlake Chemical Corporation announced today it is proceeding with the delayed construction of a new chlor-alkali plant to be located at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, Louisiana. The new unit is expected to double the company’s production from250,000 electrochemical units (ECUs) annually, to 520,000 ECUs.

Westlake, headquartered in Houston, Texas, manufactures and supplies petrochemicals, polymers and fabricated products including ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC and PVC pipe, windows and fence.

UK oil and gas explorer EnCore Oil has announced a new North Sea oil find at its Cladhan field.

Cladhan is located 225 miles north-east of Aberdeen, in 536 feet water depth. It is thought that the field may hold reserves of between 100 million and 200 million barrels.

The Cladhan announcement follows the discovery of the 300 million barrel Catcher field, which was identified in June and in which EnCore also has a stake.

EnCore, which started drilling at the Cladhan site in August, will now drill horizontally to determine the size of the field.

Many corporations like to think they have best practice processes already in place. Richard Ilsley of Synogis highlights the top 10 fundamental issues that must be considered with respect to any best practice process.

It is hard to find an organisation that is not using the term ‘best practice’ somewhere within its sales operation. It seems that no matter where you go, someone is talking about it and everyone wants it. But what is it and how do we know when we have it?

What businesses actually want from their sales and operational planning, says Andrew Kinder of Infor, is the ability to explore ‘what if’ scenarios across the business quickly and accurately.

Driven by base realignments, lease considerations and homeland security concerns, a large-scale courtroom and office project at AndrewsAir Force Base was placed on the fastest of fast tracks. Keith Regan learns how the project team uses a design-build approach and constant communication to keep the project on its aggressive schedule.

The US private sector homeland security market is forecast to rise to over $11 billion by 2014, according to research by Homeland Security Research Corporation.

In its report US Private Sector Homeland Security Market - 2010-2014, the organization predicts that the US private sector HLS market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent from $7.7 billion in 2010 to $11.2 billion by 2014.

Denman Instrumentation Ltd, based in Hull, England, has secured a major contract with French power engineering company Alstom on a €1 billion joint repowering and new construction project in the southeast of the Netherlands.

The complex project involves the integration of three new gas turbines into a former steam power plant near Maastricht to form a 1,280 MW combined cycle power plant. The project features the most advanced technology available for a power plant and will reduce CO2 emissions by 40 per cent.

Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, China's largest maker of solar panels, has signed a deal to develop solar plants in South Africa with up to 100 megawatts in capacity.

The move comes as South Africa looks to increase its clean energy output, as well as boost manufacturing and infrastructure as its seeks to broaden its economic appeal beyond its wealth of natural resources.

The total investment required for building a 100 megawatt solar power plant is estimated to be between $350 million and $400 million.

With today’s economy affecting corporations all over the world, most firms are trying to use their resources wisely. Rob Harris investigates one company that has incorporated a strategy that has taken it to the next level.

Foster Farms Dairy, the largest privately owned dairy operation in California, has made another strategic move into organic products, as Alan Swaby learns.