Project Manager for Engineering, Procurement and Construction Projects in the Oil & Gas/Energy Industries.
ROBERT L. VARNADOE, P.E.
SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE
Results-Driven Program Manager with over 30 years Experience in On Time, Below Budget Execution of Heavy Industrial Engineering, Procurement and Construction Projects, ranging in value from $8 Million to $1.5 Billion. Management Emphasis is on Maximizing the Effectiveness of the Project Team to Assure Safe, On-Time Project Delivery, with the Required Quality, Performed at the Lowest Possible Total Cost.
PROJECT TYPES PERSONAL DATA
Oil Refineries Bachelor of Civil Engineering,
Oil Field Development Georgia Tech
Oil and Gas Pipelines Practicing Law Institute,
Natural Gas Compressor Stations
Offshore Platforms Construction Contracts
Power Plants Member, American Society of Civil Engineers
Alumina Refineries Member, American Association of Cost Engineers
Aluminum Reduction Plants Member, National Society of Professional Engineers
Steel Mills Member, Texas Society of Professional Engineers
Chemical Plants Member, Project Management Institute
Pulp and Paper Mills
Heavy Manufacturing Plants
Zero Discharge Systems
U. S. Government Contracts
ACTIVITIES REGISTRATIONS
Program Management Registered Professional Engineer,
Project Management Oklahoma, No. 11268
Engineering Management
Project Engineering FOREIGN EXPERIENCE
Construction Engineering Algeria
Estimating Iraq
Scheduling Jamaica
Proposal Engineering Republic of South Africa
Contract Negotiations Swaziland
Subcontract Negotiations
Claims Preparation & Resolution
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
PAI Engineering 2008-2009
Arkema Chemicals, Inc. 2008
CDI Process & Industrial
KBR 2006-2007
2004
RLV Consulting 1998-2003,2005
Brown & Root, Inc. 1979-1998
Burden Construction Company 1976-1978
Midrex Corporation
Comstock International, Ltd 1975-1976
1973-1974
Harbert-Burden, Jamaica, Inc. 1970-1973
DETAILED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
PAI Engineering; Houston, TX (2008-2009)
Project Manager
Managed the completion of engineering and procurement for the $200 million Chevron Piceance Basin Natural Gas Development Program. Ensured that design was optimal, safe, cost effective and in compliance with all applicable codes and corporate requirements.
Arkema Chemicals, Inc; Crosby, TX (2008)
Project Manager
Managed several small capital projects for this Organic Peroxide manufacturing facility
during the 2008 plant shutdown. Led the commissioning & start-up and trouble shooting
activities prior to returning the control of each area to plant operations.
CDI Process & Industrial; Houston, TX (2006-2007)
Department Manager-Civil/Structural Engineering
Consultant-Project Management and Procurement
Managed the Civil/Structural Engineering Department and provided Project Management and Procurement Consulting Services, on active projects, for Air Liquide, BASF, Chevron, Dow, DuPont, Huntsman, Mirant and other clients throughout the United States. These projects ranged in value from $5 to $200 million TIC. Coordinated with our Tampico, Mexico engineering office to provide quality, low cost, engineering services to our clients. Teamed with our business development representatives in forming an Engineering Super Center to manage Power Plant and Water Projects in partnership with General Electric.
KBR; Houston, TX (2004)
Program Director-CENTCOM Area Office; Baghdad, Iraq
Established the CENTCOM Area Office, responsible for executing Engineering, Procurement and Construction projects in Iraq for the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Department of State, Iraq Ministries of Defense, Electricity and Communications and other customers to be identified.
Al Ameen 400 KV Substation; Baghdad, Iraq
Directed the mobilization to site of manpower, camp facilities and construction equipment for this $60,000,000 Fast Track EPC Project. Awarded 27 Feb 2004, as Task Order No. 0001 under Contract No. W912ER-04-D-0005, the Task Order consisted of Emergency Assessment and Completion of Construction of the existing 400 KV Substation at Al Ameen and interconnections with the new Baghdad and Mashtel 132 KV Substations. The project goal was to place this unit in full operating condition, where power could be transmitted on a reliable basis by 15 June 2004.
US Embassy; Baghdad, Iraq
Participated in preliminary discussions, with the US Department of State, in the planning for the new US Embassy. The initial planning called for the construction of the world’s largest US Embassy housing 4,000 employees.
RLV Consulting; Houston, TX (1998-2003, 2005)
President and Chief Consultant
Provided Project Management Consulting Services for various clients in the Chemical and Cogeneration Power Industries.
Cogeneration Consultants, Inc.; Houston, TX
Business Development and Project Management for Simple Cycle and Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Cogeneration projects in the U.S. and Eastern Europe. Project sizes ranged from
15 MW to 150 MW.
Oxid LP; Houston, Texas
Managed the $5 million plant expansion for this specialty chemical company, which was doubling their plant size, in response to the needs of a new customer. Responsibilities included preparation of scopes of work, bid evaluation, project risk assessment and change management.
BROWN & ROOT, INC.; Houston, TX (1979-1998)
Project General Manager (1 year)
Tractebel Power Inc.; Houston, Texas
Managed an engineering team in performing a due diligence evaluation of the energy assets of three northern U.S. pulp and paper mills. These assets included coal, fuel oil and gas fired boilers, steam turbine generators and gas turbine generators. Tractebel utilized this evaluation in preparing their acquisition proposal for these assets.
Qatar General Petroleum Corporation; Doha Qatar
Managed the engineering and procurement team responsible for the front-end engineering on an ethane recovery project. This project consisted of the upgrade of two existing gas plants, the installation of a 100 km pipeline connecting the two plants, and the installation of a new fractionation and treating facility. The ultimate goal of the project is production of 2,000 metric tons per stream day of pure ethane to feed a new petrochemical complex.
Chevron Corporation; San Ramon, California
Managed the South Nemba Offshore Platform proposal team, which included Daewoo as the platform fabricator. The project, located in offshore Angola, consisted of design, fabrication and installation of this new production platform.
Anadarko Algeria/Sonatrach; Hassi Messaoud, Algeria
Responsible for the engineering design, procurement and construction of the Stage I Development of the Hassi Berkine South (HBNS) Field located in the Sahara Desert approximately 600 km southwest of Algiers. This new $250 million oil field development project included the installation of crude oil pipelines from the production wells to the Central Processing Facility (CPF), gas injection pipelines from the CPF to the injections wells and the export pipeline which ties into an existing pipeline system. The design capacity is 60,000 bpd of stock tank crude and 95 MMSCFD gas injection. The CPF included a complete Gas Oil Separation Facility with four free standing flares, two Frame 5 gas turbine generators, two 90,000 bbl processed crude storage tanks and associated process equipment.
Project General Manager (7 years)
SAPPI Limited; Johannesburg, South Africa
Managed engineering, procurement, and construction of a $95 million pulp mill expansion in Bhunya, Swaziland. Project included a new 750 ADTPD continuous digester, causticizing plant modifications, recovery boiler upgrade, drying plant modifications, slab press modifications, a new finishing press, and a new automated baling and wrapping line.
Stone Container Corp.; Chicago, Illinois
Led an operating/maintenance audit team in the inspection of twelve Stone Container Pulp & Paper mills located in the United States and Canada. The mills selected were chosen by Stone’s umbrella liability insurance carrier as containing the greatest potential risk for continuation of the umbrella coverage for all Stone Container properties. Following the publication of the audit reports for these mills, which ranged in age from 50 to 100 years, the insurance carrier elected to continue Stone Container’s umbrella liability coverage.
Resources Conservation Company; Bellevue, Washington
Provided engineering, procurement, and construction management consulting service for two Zero Discharge Systems serving the Mission Energy Cogeneration plants listed below:
Auburndale Power Partners; Auburndale, Florida
This $9 million wastewater treatment plant serves a $145 million 160 MW Westinghouse turnkey cogeneration plant. The project carried extensive liquidated damages clauses including one for $65,000 per day if the initial operation date of April 1, 1994 was not met. Although the project was 30 days behind schedule when Mr. Varnadoe was appointed to the management team on November 11, 1993, the plant achieved initial operation on March 27, 1994.
Gordonsville, Energy Limited Partners; Gordonsville, Virginia
This $8 million wastewater treatment plant serves a $235 million 240 MW General Electric turnkey cogeneration plant. The project carried extensive liquidated damages clauses including one for $6,500 per day if the substantial completion date of June 1, 1994 was not met. Although the project was 45 days behind schedule when Mr. Varnadoe was appointed to the management team on November 11, 1993, the plant achieved substantial completion on June 1, 1994.
Bird Environmental Gulf Coast; San Leon, Texas
Provided engineering, procurement, and construction management consulting service for this owner-managed design-build project. The $20 million facility consists of the world’s first commercially viable Thermal Desorber, which processes hazardous oily sludge into recyclable oil and non-hazardous sand.
Champion International Corporation; Courtland, Alabama
Managed engineering, procurement and construction for a $1.5 billion pulp and paper mill expansion. The project included wood yard modifications; wastewater treatment plant expansion; a new fiber line, including a 1,200 ADTPD MCC digester and bleach plant; a new recovery boiler; 65MW steam turbine generator; 27MW steam turbine generator; 40MW gas turbine generator; a new lime kiln and recausticizing plant; chlorine dioxide generator; and sulfur dioxide scrubber. In addition, a fine paper machine and pulp dryer were rebuilt and a new 846 MDTPD. 360” Reel Trim 4000 FPM lightweight registered bond paper machine was installed.
Deputy Project Director (6 years)
U. S. Army Engineer Division; Huntsville, Alabama
Responsible for the project control as well as the contract negotiation functions on a classified project. Management responsibilities included client interface, administration, project estimating, scheduling and cost reporting, as well as monthly invoice preparation. Other key responsibilities included proposal preparation, annual award fee negotiations and security compliance. Project consisted of feasibility studies, preparation of facility designs and construction drawings and procurement of major industrial equipment.
Deputy Project General Manager (2 years)
Champion International Corporation; Courtland, Alabama
Responsible for the project control and contract negotiation functions on the Project General Management Staff. The project consisted of adding the new No. 34 paper machine, cut size sheeter, roll grinder, and related auxiliaries to the existing mill. Brown & Root’s involvement in this $360 million expansion included project general management, engineering, procurement and construction. The work was completed 11 weeks ahead of schedule and significantly under the original budget.
Controls Manager (1 year)
Managed estimating staffs ranging from six to thirty estimators engaged in the preparation of proposal estimates for a variety of projects in the Manufacturing & Process Industries.
Exxon; Baytown, Texas
Proposal estimate for the construction of a $70 million grass roots MTBE unit.
Badische; Freeport, Texas
Proposal estimate for the construction of a $60 million grass roots acrylic monomers plant.
Lone Star Steel; Lone Star, Texas
Proposal estimate for the construction of a $950 million steel mill expansion consisting of two basic oxygen furnaces and two continuous casting machines with auxiliary equipment capable of producing 16 million-TPY of steel slab.
Assistant Chief Estimator (1 year)
Managed the Industrial Civil Division’s home office estimating staff, which prepared conceptual, as well as firm lump sum estimates, for a variety of projects in the Heavy Manufacturing and Process Industries. Directed the Estimating Department’s input in the project control function and negotiated extras on several reimbursable projects, including the following:
Peterbilt Division of Paccar; Denton, Texas
This $80 million grass roots truck manufacturing plant produces 18 to 20 Peterbilt trucks per day. The project also includes a 43,000 square foot administrative office building and a 12,000 square foot cafeteria/training center. Complete engineering, procurement and construction by Brown & Root, Inc.
ICI Americas; Hopewell, Virginia
This polymer film plant expansion included the addition of a complete new film line contained within a “clean room” plus an expansion of the existing polymer plant. Designed by Crawford-Russell, with procurement responsibilities divided among the owner, engineer, and contractor, the new portion of the plant began limited operation 15 months after ground was broken.
Phillips Petroleum Company; Freeport, Texas
Crude oil ship unloading terminal and storage facilities to serve the Phillips Refinery Expansion in Sweeny, Texas. Brown & Root’s responsibilities included design, procurement and construction.
BURDEN CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION; Tulsa, OK (1976-1978)
Project General Manager (2 years)
Total profit/loss responsibility on the relocation of a 42,000 BPD vacuum unit from the Arco Refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the Murphy Oil Refinery in Meraux, Louisiana. Responsibilities on this $20 million lump sum project included contract negotiations, customer relations, coordination of engineering and procurement in Tulsa plus subcontract negotiations and scheduling of the critical activities for the two construction sites. Additional corporate responsibilities included proposal work in the aluminum, power, coal, cement, chemical and refinery industries, both foreign and domestic. Successful proposal efforts included a two-unit power plant expansion in Maracaibo, Venezuela, as well as a portion of the construction of the Reynolds Aluminum Plant in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.
Supervised the preparation of detailed conceptual estimates for worldwide direct reduction projects ranging in size from $100 million to $1 billion. Proposed plants were located in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Algeria, Qatar, as well as the United States. Assigned to the Qatar project team to perform value engineering and cost reporting functions. Assisted the Argentine and Canadian project teams in their cost reporting efforts. Developed standard estimating and cost reporting forms and established a material price index for contract price escalation protection.
COMSTOCK INTERNATIONAL, LTD; New York, NY (1973-1974)
Mechanical Project Engineer (2 years)
Managed the Oran Engineering office and provided technical assistance to site Project Managers and Craft Superintendents on a series of five natural gas compressor stations along a 300 mile section of 40” pipeline feeding the LNG plant in Arzew, Algeria. This Sonatrach project was executed in a joint venture with GE, the design engineer and gas turbine supplier.
Completion Project Manager on a 350 room luxury hotel in Falmouth, Jamaica. Duties included supervision of direct hire finishing crafts as well as a number of finishing subcontractors.
HARBERT-BURDEN, JAMAICA, INC.; Birmingham, AL (1970-1973)
Project Engineer (3 years)
Duties included assisting the construction superintendents as well as supervising the estimating, scheduling, cost engineering, and procurement activities on several alumina refinery projects, including a grass roots facility for Alcoa, a major expansion for Alpart (Aluminum Partners of Jamaica-Reynolds, Kaiser, and Anaconda), a new boiler installation for Revere Copper and Brass, and multiple plant modifications for Alcan. Responsibilities also encompassed negotiating the cost of all change orders and the preparation of contractual claims when required
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