INDUSTRY BRIEFS

LNG

BRUNEI LNG SDN. BHD. let a turnkey contract worth $59 million to units of Hollandsche Beton Groep NV (HBG) to provide more liquefied natural gas loading equipment at its Lumut, Brunei, complex. ITH, a joint venture of HBG units Interbeton BV, Tebodin BV, and HCG Industries-service BV, will design, engineer, procure, and build a 426 m trestle, loading platform, and associated facilities and install three LNG loading arms. The facilities, to be complete in 19 months, will accommodate LNG carriers of 75,000-135,000 cu m capacity.

COGENERATION

UTILICORP UNITED INC., Kansas City, Mo., subsidiaries UtilCo Group and Aquila Energy are participating in the 169,000 kw Lockport Energy Associates cogeneration project at Lockport, N.Y. UtilCo acquired 15% interest in the project from affiliates of Commercial Union Energy Corp. and Conrail. Aquila has a 15 year contract to supply about 20 MMcfd of gas to the plant, about half its expected consumption.

CNF CONSTRUCTORS INC, Meriden, Conn., let a $14.5 million contract to GE Power Generation to supply a 42,000 kw GE MS6001B gas turbine generator and a 17,000 kw GE steam turbine generator for a proposed cogeneration plant in North Tonawanda, N.Y., owned by Oxbow Power, North Tonawanda. Electricity will be sold to Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., and steam will be used by Village Farms of Wheatfield Inc. Distillate oil will be used as backup fuel. Commercial start-up is scheduled for May 1993.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

CHEVRON CORP. closed its Maklongo production terminal in Angola May 21 after a pipeline carrying crude from the Cabinda area to the terminal ruptured and caught fire. Chevron said the rupture probably was due to a landslide. The line normally carries about 75,000 b/d, and Chevron expected to resume operations by early last week at a rate of about 40,000 b/d. Chevron also shut down a pipeline carrying about 235,000 b/d of crude from Takula field to the terminal and began transferring oil to its Chevron Ocean storage tanker.

AMOCO NETHERLANDS PETROLEUM CO. let contract to Grootint BV of Netherlands for fabrication of central processing platform topsides for its P15/18 gas fields development in the Dutch North Sea, about 25 miles off Rotterdam. The fields will be developed with the central platform bridge linked to Amoco's Rijn platform. The central platform will process as much as 500 MMcfd of gas, which will be transported to shore via a 26 in. pipeline that parallels the Rijn oil pipeline. The development project is expected to cost more than $500 million. Production is to begin in late 1993.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission let a $350 million turnkey contract to a group led by South Korea's Daewoo Corp. to construct Platform SHG and related facilities for installation in the southern part of Bombay High field off Bombay (OGJ, Aug. 12, 1991, p. 27). The group includes Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Ltd. and NPCC Singapore Pte. Ltd. As part of the project, ONGC let a contract to Japan's Kawasaki for seven gas compressors. The entire project is to be complete by April 1994.

U.S. ECONOMIC REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION said Chevron U. S. A. Inc. owes $124,989,588 plus interest for alleged overcharges under the tertiary incentive program from January 1980 through Jan. 27, 1981. ERA, in a proposed remedial order, said the funds represent excess tertiary incentive revenue attributable to Chevron's first sales of U.S. crude during the period.

LAGOVEN SA let contract to Ensco Drilling (Caribbean) Inc., Las Morochas, Venezuela, a joint venture of Energy Service Co. Inc., Dallas, and Medido CA of Venezuela, to deliver four drilling barges and operate them for 5 years on Lake Maracaibo. Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, Ala., and Texas Drydock Inc., Orange, Tex., each will build two units. Two barges are to be delivered in first quarter 1993 and two in early second quarter 1993. Nissho Iwai Corp. of Japan provided Ensco financing of about $65 million for construction.

BENTON OIL & GAS CO., Oxnard, Calif., reported its 814 well in North Gubinskoye field of western Siberia flowed at a rate of 250 b/d of oil from Cretaceous BP 12 sand at 8,955-87 ft, extending the field 4 miles south. The field previously was thought to cover an area 15 miles long and 4 miles wide and is estimated to hold reserves of more than 300 million bbl of oil, 40 million bbl of condensate, and 2 tcf of gas. The BP 12 sand is the target of a 16 well Benton development program to begin this fall.

NORSK HYDRO AS decided to transport oil from Troll oil and gas/condensate field in the Norwegian North Sea by pipeline to the Sture terminal near Mongstad, Norway, or to a dedicated Troll oil and condensate terminal, or direct from offshore loading facilities rather than including storage capacity in Troll's production platform (OGJ, Apr. 27, p. 19). The final decision will be made when all options are documented, no later that Oct. 1 .

NORSKE SHELL AS let a $95 million (Canadian) contract to Hitech Dreco AS, a unit of Dreco Energy Services Ltd., Edmonton, for a drilling platform for first phase Troll field development. Hitech will handle engineering, construction, and installation of the platform. The package will include a mast, substructure, drilling machinery, mud module, and utility and services module. Dreco will account for $18 million of the work and Hitech the balance. Construction is to begin in September with installation slated by late 1994.

A STATE APPEALS COURT in Anne Arundel County, Md., upheld Texaco Inc.'s right to drill wildcats in Charles County, about 1 mile from the Potomac River. The court ruled the Chesapeake Bay Foundation could not appeal the state's decision to issue drilling permits. The environmental group's suit challenged Texaco's permit to drill a 10,000 ft wildcat near Faulkner.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY bought the first oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve since it suspended purchases in August 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. It bought 1 million bbl of North Sea sweet crude at $19.78/bbl, delivered to Sture, Norway, from Texaco International Trading Inc. The crude will be shipped to the U.S. in June. The SPR currently holds 568.5 million bbl and has total capacity of 750 million bbl at five salt dome sites in Louisiana and Texas.

TANKERS

ARAB PETROLEUM INVESTMENT CORP. (Apicorp) acquired for $70 million part of a $1.2 billion syndicated loan to Vela International Marine, a unit of Saudi Aramco Oil Co., for construction of oil tankers. Apicorp and Gulf Investment Bank provided $900 million of the loan, and $300 million came from a group of Arab banks and financial institutions, including Apicorp.

PETROCHEMICALS

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. and Sumika Polymers America Corp., a unit of Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., formed Phillips Sumika Polypropylene Co., a partnership to expand and improve their U.S. polypropylene businesses. The partnership began a year long study of engineering design and business development plans. If the study shows expected demand for added U.S. capacity, Phillips Sumika will seek approval in 1993 to build a 270 million lb/year polypropylene plant at the Houston chemical complex to be complete in 1995.

FUSHAN PETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX in mid-May started up a 120,000 metric ton/year ethylene plant in Fushan, Liaoning province, China. ABB Lummus Crest Inc., Bloomfield, N.J., provided licensed short resident time ethylene technology, full scope engineering, equipment supply, materials, and construction management services (OGJ, Mar. 14, 1988, p. 29).

A GROUP made up of Total, Ecofuel SpA, and Sonatrach chose a butane isomerization process licensed by ABB Lummus Crest for a 460,000 ton/year isobutane plant to be part of a 600,000 ton/year methyl tertiary butyl ether complex at Arzew, Algeria. The Lummus process uses AT-2 catalyst developed by Total and Akzo Chemicals International By. Lummus also agreed to provide basic engineering for the isomerization unit, pending completion of a feasibility study.

ACQUISITIONS

SANTA FE ENERGY RESOURCES INC., Houston, completed a merger with Adobe Resources Corp., New York, in an exchange of common and preferred stock approved by stockholders of both companies (OGJ, Dec. 16, 1991, p. 32).

PLAINS RESOURCES INC., Houston, agreed to pay $14 million and 400,000 shares of its common stock for all common stock of Stocker Resources Inc., Los Angeles. The deal would net Plains production of about 8,000 b/d of oil and 4 MMcfd of gas, mostly in Inglewood, East Beverly Hills, San Vincente, and South Salt Lake fields in California's Los Angeles basin. Plains also is to acquire reserves of 13 million bbl of oil and 8 bcf of gas. Closing is expected within 45 days.

EXPLORATION

VIET NAM is protesting the exploration agreement between China National Offshore Oil Corp. and Crestone Energy Corp., Denver, covering Wan'an Bei-21 block in the South China Sea (OGJ, May 25, p. 31). United Press International reported Hanoi demanded the deal be scrapped because the area is in its exclusive economic zone. The area is near the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed by both nations.

A GROUP led by South Korea's state owned Korea Petroleum Development Corp. is expected to sign an agreement with Viet Nam's Petrovietnam to drill off southern Viet Nam, Nikkei Weekly reported. It will mark South Korea's first oil venture in Viet Nam. The South Korean group includes Hyundai, Samsung Co. Ltd., Daewoo Corp., and Lucky Goldstar. Drilling will take place off Vung Tau in an area previously explored by the Vietsovpetro joint venture (OGJ, May 18, p. 19). Petrovietnam expects to sign three more oil exploration contracts with foreign partners in June.

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP., Vancouver, B.C., unit International Petroleum Libya Ltd. signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with Libya's National Oil Corp. covering three onshore blocks in Libya totaling 21,884 sq km. Blocks NC176 and NC177 are in the Sirte basin, and Block NC178 is in the sparsely explored Cyrenaica basin in eastern Libya. The company plans a 300 line km seismic survey on NC176 immediately after the agreement has been approved and plans to drill a Paleocene reef wildcat next year.

ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, A-1 Pinyon Ridge wildcat in Rio Blanco County, Colo., flowed at a rate of 959 Mcfd of coalbed methane and 13 b/d of condensate through a 1 in. choke with 522 psi flowing tubing pressure from Cretaceous Williams Fork coals at 5,501-5,772 ft. The nearby B-1 Pinyon Ridge, which cut 32 net feet of coal at 6,157-6,468 ft, is shut in for evaluation. Anadarko and Texaco Exploration & Production Inc. own 58% and 42% interests, respectively, in an area covering 33,100 acres in Rio Blanco and Moffat counties. Four offset wells are planned this year.

REFINING

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY issued an administrative complaint seeking a fine of $60,000 against BP Oil Co. Inc. for alleged Clean Air Act violations at its Marcus Hook, Pa., refinery. EPA said BP failed to install in a timely manner a continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) on a fuel gas line that feeds into two combustion units and failed to conduct a timely performance evaluation for the CEMS.

DALIAN WEST PACIFIC PETROCHEMICAL CORP. LTD. started construction in mid-May of a 100,000 b/d export refinery at Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning province (OGJ, Jan. 13, p. 25). The project is a joint venture of four Chinese companies, Hong Kong's Sinochem International (H.K.) Co. Ltd., and Total. It is to cost $500 million and be complete in 1994. Commercial Bank of China and its Dalian branch extended a $70 million loan for the project.

PIPELINES

WINTERSHALL AG began construction of the 640 km Midal gas pipeline between Emden and Ludwigshafen, Germany, due to start operations in fall 1993 (OGJ, Sept. 9, 1991, p. 20). The Midal line is part of the integrated system developed by Wintershall and Russia's Gazprom that includes the Stegal pipeline and Rehden gas storage facility.

COMPANIES

CHEVRON CORP. said about 4,400 of 35,000 eligible U.S. employees chose to retire under a special temporary retirement enhancement offer that expired May 15. The company said in April it planned to cut its Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. staff by about 1,700 due to organizational consolidations and by as many as 600 from the sale of nonstrategic assets (OGJ, May 11, p. 26). Chevron began a study of its corporate staff requirements that is to be complete in September.

SCEPTRE RESOURCES LTD., Calgary, expects to disclose a restructuring plan within 30-60 days to deal with a $388 million (Canadian) debt load. The company lost $210.5 million in 1991 and projects a loss of $12.6 million this year. Sceptre has $70 million in equity against its $388 million debt. Sceptre Pres. Grant Billing said the thrust of company policy will be to reduce debt and increase equity. About $28 million of Sceptre's projected $49 million cash flow this year is expected to go to meet financial obligations.