Exploration Development 2000 P

12/22/2000 -- Rentech, Pertamina to study Indonesian GTL plant
Rentech Inc., Denver, Colo., will partner with the Indonesian state oil company Pertamina to study the possible use of its proprietary Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids process to convert Pertamina's stranded natural gas reserves into products. The study will take 4-6 months.
12/22/2000 -- Suncor eyes completion of oil sands plant
Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary, plans to spend $935 million (Can.) on capital programs in 2001, about half its 2000 outlay, as its Project Millennium oil sands expansion program nears completion. Start up of the $2.8 billion project is scheduled for the second half of 2001.
12/21/2000 -- ENI outbids Amerada Hess for Lasmo
Italian oil giant ENI SPA Thursday agreed to pay more than �3.8 billion in cash for UK independent Lasmo PLC, besting a bid made by the US's Amerada Hess Corp. last month by around �300 million. ENI is offering 200 pence in cash for each Lasmo share�equal to �2.69 billion, a 12% premium on Hess's Nov. 6 cash and share offer. The Italian company will also pick up �1.12 billion of Lasmo's debt.
12/20/2000 -- General Interest news briefs, Dec. 20
US Department of Energy � Indonesia � Pertamina � PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia � US Minerals Management Service � American Petroleum Institute
12/20/2000 -- Chevron, Burlington, BP to explore Canadian Arctic
Three international companies have formed a joint venture to explore the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Sea region of Canada�s Arctic. Chevron Corp., Burlington Resources Inc., and BP say they plan to build significant production and reserves to meet growing North American demand for natural gas.
12/18/2000 -- Oil groups warn against US roadless lands proposal
National energy and mineral associations have warned US President Bill Clinton that the US Forest Service is proposing to prohibit most road building or reconstruction on 49 million acres of inventoried roadless areas initially, rising to 58.5 million acres in 2004.
12/15/2000 -- Gas playing bigger part in Thai electric power industry
Natural gas is playing a bigger role in Thailand's power generation and is expected to fuel up to 80% of total electricity generated in the next 3-5 years from about 60% today, officials say. Randy Howard, president of Unocal Thailand, a unit of US-based Unocal Corp., attributed this trend to an improving economy, a rise in environmental values, and greater availability of supplies of natural gas over alternative fuels such as imported coal.
12/15/2000 -- DEFS completes Colorado gas plant expansion
The Roggen natural gas plant northeast of Denver, Colo., completed an expansion that doubles its processing capacity to 58 MMcfd, said owner Duke Energy Field Services, a 70:30 joint venture by Duke Energy Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co. DEFS said the upgrade increases capacity near gas reserves in Weld County, Colo.
12/14/2000 -- Tom Brown to acquire Stellarton Energy
Tom Brown said it will establish a 'significant' core area in western Canada by acquiring Canadian company Stellarton Energy Corp. in a stock transaction valued at $94.8 million, including $14.5 million in net debt. Tom Brown expects to initiate an all-cash tender offer of $3.29/share on or before Dec. 22.
12/14/2000 -- Thirteen vie for NCS licenses
Twelve oil companies�and one contractor�turned in applications in the latest round of licensing on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Norway's Minister of Petroleum announced Thursday. The companies that submitted applications are: Agip, BP, Chevron, Conoco, Enterprise Oil, ExxonMobil, Norsk Hydro, Fortum Oil, Phillips, RWE-DEA, Royal Dutch/Shell, Statoil, and Aker Maritime.
12/13/2000 -- Consortium to begin Mackenzie Delta engineering
A consortium studying development of Arctic natural gas in Canada�s Mackenzie Delta says it has made significant progress in a joint evaluation and will begin preliminary engineering on a proposed pipeline. The group said it could begin preparing a regulatory application for a pipeline as early as next year.
12/13/2000 -- Aker opts for smaller share in Kværner buy-in
Aker Maritime Tuesday opted to take to a reduced interest in arch rival Kværner in light of the European Commission decision last week to begin an in-depth investigation of the Norwegian contractor's plans to purchase 26.7% of shares in its compatriot. Through the buy-in, under which the company will acquire 17.8% of shares in Kværner, Aker will become Kværner's largest shareholder, but will not have a controlling interest in the company.
12/12/2000 -- Texaco finds oil pay with Cyrus well
Texaco Inc. drilled a well on Cyrus prospect on High Island A-582 that found more than 230 ft of oil and gas pay in four sands. If Cyrus's commerciality is established, said Texaco, it would take 12-18 months to build a platform, from which production could begin in the second half of 2002.
12/08/2000 -- Canada's Nunavut Territory opens lands to exploration
Canada's new Nunavut Territory has opened a large part of its lands to oil and gas exploration and development. The Northern Oil and Gas Directorate, Hull, Que., said nominations will be accepted until Jan. 29 for Nunavut tracts. If lands are nominated, in February it will invite companies to bid for exploration licenses.
12/07/2000 -- MMS suspends royalties for deepwater Gulf of Mexico field
The US Minerals Management Service will suspend royalties on the first 87.5 million boe that Chevron USA Inc. produces from Green Canyon Block 236 field off Louisiana. The field, nicknamed Typhoon, is 173 miles southwest of New Orleans, and lies partially in water deeper than 800 m. It is the fifth field to which MMS has granted royalty relief since 1995.
12/07/2000 -- Exploration/Development news briefs, Dec. 7
US Minerals Management Service � Westfort Energy � Patterson Petroleum � Panaco � Millennium Energy � Swift Energy � Rocky Mountain Gas � Suncor Energy America � Beta Oil & Gas � Parallel Petroleum � Pease Oil & Gas � Statoil � Amerada Hess � Norsk Hydro � Miller Petroleum � CanArgo Energy � Trans Energy � Houston Exploration � Esenjay Exploration � Samedan Oil � Santos USA � Kerr-McGee � PanCanadian Petroleum � TAP Oil � SK Corp.
12/07/2000 -- Enterprise evaluating Gamma discovery in Barents Sea
UK independent Enterprise Oil PLC, on behalf of partners Norsk Agip AS, Statoil AS, and Fortum Oil & Gas AS, has completed testing of the Gamma gas well in the Barents Sea off Norway. The well, in 190 m of water on block 7019/1, was drilled to a TD of 2,979 m, discovering gas in sandstones of early Cretaceous and Jurassic ages.
12/06/2000 -- Texas PUC rules on capacity auctions
Over complaints by potential players in the Texas electricity market, the Texas Public Utility Commission issued final rules governing availability of electric generation to competitive electricity suppliers when the market is deregulated in 2002. AES NewEnergy and Enron Energy Services objected to a tolling arrangement under which retailers would have to supply fuel to a plant and take the produced power to sell, according to a transcript of the commission meeting
12/06/2000 -- PanCanadian budget to target 15% boost in gas output
PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, plans to spend $1.5 billion (Can.) in 2001, with 60% allocated to expand its natural gas activities in North America. CEO David Tuer said the company expects to increase gas production by 15% in 2001 to almost 1.1 bcfd. The company will drill more than 2,000 wells.
12/06/2000 -- California braces for latest power emergency
With 11,000 Mw of generation off line and operating reserves below 5%, the California Independent System Wednesday took the unusual step of declaring a Stage 2 electrical emergency at 7 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, shortly after issuing a Stage 1 electrical emergency at 6:20 a.m. The ISO attributed the early Stage 2 emergency declaration to an increased demand for power Wednesday morning, about 1,000 Mw statewide above Tuesday's 7 a.m. usage.

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