Panalpina, Bp sign E&P contract

BP and Panalpina, a Swiss freight forwarder, have signed an agreement to design an oil and gas freight forwarding supply chain.

The deal covers transport services for air, ocean, road and rail, industrial projects, freight management and other logistics services connected with the exploration and production of oil and gas.

The agreement unites operations and freight management services for upstream capital projects under a single contract.

The upstream sector is known as the exploration and production (E&P) sector, which involves the searching for potential underground or underwater oil and gas fields, drilling of exploratory wells, and subsequently operating the wells that recover and bring the crude oil or raw natural gas to the surface.

Panalpina global head of industry vertical oil and gas Frank Bichowski said the company has proven its commitment to the oil and gas industry for more than four decades, traditionally with a focus on servicing the highly demanding upstream part of the business.

"Together with BP we can take the oil and gas supply chain to the next level," Bichowski said.

Panprojects, the industrial projects division of the Panalpina Group, will mostly handle upstream business under this agreement.

Panprojects global head Christopher Kent said the company's services are especially suited for companies like BP.

"BP will benefit from our industry-specific expertise that we have gained from the completion of numerous large and small projects in all industry segments worldwide over the past two decades," Kent said.