INDUSTRY BRIEFS

Jan. 20, 1992
A JOINT VENTURE of Saudi Aramco and a Nippon Oil led Japanese group increased proposed capacity of an expansion at Nippon Oil's mothballed refinery at Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Province, Japan, to 450,000 b/d from 150,000 b/d (OGJ, Aug. 26, 1991, p. 19). The venture also plans construction of a 300,000 b/d export refinery at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Aramco holds a 50% stake in the venture with Nippon Oil 20%, Nippon Mining 15%. Caltex 10%, and Arabian Oil Co. 5%.

REFINING

A JOINT VENTURE of Saudi Aramco and a Nippon Oil led Japanese group increased proposed capacity of an expansion at Nippon Oil's mothballed refinery at Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Province, Japan, to 450,000 b/d from 150,000 b/d (OGJ, Aug. 26, 1991, p. 19). The venture also plans construction of a 300,000 b/d export refinery at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Aramco holds a 50% stake in the venture with Nippon Oil 20%, Nippon Mining 15%. Caltex 10%, and Arabian Oil Co. 5%.

SUN CO. let a contract of undisclosed value to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., to provide benzene emission control services at Sun's refineries at Tulsa, Marcus Hook and Philadelphia, Pa., Toledo, Ohio, and Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. Jacobs will furnish engineering scoping services for each of those plants and detailed engineering to modify wastewater treatment at the Tulsa refinery.

EXPLORATION

A SHELL OIL CO. and Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise wildcat in Taikyi Township, Yangon Division, Myanmar, flowed 11 MMcfd of gas from a zone at 2.940 m. The well was spudded July 10.

OMV AG will spend $24 million for oil and gas exploration in a 520 sq km area near Islambad in Rawalpindi District, Pakistan, under an agreement with the Pakistan government. Seismic surveys and exploratory wells are planned.

PETROLEOS BRASILEIRA SA drilled a rare onshore oil discovery in Brazil's Rio Grande do Norte state. Its Fazenda Canaa wildcat flowed 119 b/d of 39 gravity crude. Reserves are pegged at 5.4 million bbl in the new field near Canto do Amaro oil field.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

ALCORN INTERNATIONAL INC., Houston, West Linapacan field confirmation well off Palawan Island, Philippines (OGJ, Dec. 16. 1991, p. 37) flowed oil at stabilized rates of 900 b/d, 4,600 b/d, and 4,800 b/d on drill stem tests of fractured Miocene Galoc limestone below 6,000 ft. Maximum flow rate on the third test reached 8,000-9,000 b/d. Alcorn plans production of 15,000-20,000 b/d to begin in May or June via a floating production storage and offloading system.

MOBIL EXPLORATION & PRODUCING U.S. INC. began a CO2 injection program in the 4,780 acre Mallet Unit in Hockley and Cochran counties, Tex., targeting injection of a total 21 MMCF Of CO2 into 80 wells. The Mallet project is one of several Mobil plans in Slaughter field, which taps Permian San Andres at about 5,000 ft. The CO2 is transported from southwestern Colorado through the Cortez pipeline to Denver City, Tex., where it connects with the Slaughter gathering system.

NABORS INDUSTRIES INC., Houston, acquired three land drilling rigs and related equipment, one each in Syria, Malaysia, and Thailand, from Noble Drilling Corp., Houston, for an undisclosed price. The rigs in Syria and Malaysia are currently employed, and the rig in Thailand recently finished a 2 year contract.

GRACE ENERGY CORP., Dallas, and F.J. Brown & Associates, Houston, formed a joint venture to provide turnkey drilling services in the Gulf of Mexico. The company, Grace Offshore Turnkey, will be managed from Grace Offshore's New Orleans headquarters. Grace's Gulf of Mexico fleet includes 10 jack up and platform drilling rigs and 21 platform workover rigs.

ENERGEN CORP., Birmingham, Ala., is redirecting drilling efforts in 1992 from Michigan's Devonian Antrim shale to tax credit driven development on proven acreage. The decision is based on results of a three well program Energen unit Taurus Exploration undertook to determine if Antrim shale natural gas could be economically developed without the tax credit.

WEST VIRGINIA Department of Commerce, Labor, and Environmental Resources' Division of Energy Oil and Gas Section submitted a notice of determination to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that Mississippian Keener/Injun and Devonian Gantz/Fifty Foot, Gordon, 4th Sand, and 5th Sand in Marion, Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor counties, and Mississippian Maxton sandstone in parts of Raleigh and Wyoming counties qualify as tight formations under the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA).

FERC approved a recommendation Cretaceous Muddy and Dakota sands underlying part of Wyoming's Mary Draw field be designated tight formations under NGPA. The decision affects 26-41n-72w on the Campbell-Converse County line, and barring protests, was to take effect Jan. 9.

SAMEDAN OF TUNISIA INC. intends to exchange 25% interest in its 53.3% owned onshore Zinnia concession in Tunisia (OGJ, Dec. 23, 1991, p. 100), for AGIP (Africa) Ltd.'s interest in six offshore Tunisia concessions. Samedan will receive interests in Tazerka, Birsa, Oudna, Isis, Cosmos, and Yasmin concessions. Samedan is operator of all the concessions except Zinnia, and Tazerka is the only producing offshore concession. It has five wells producing about 2,350 b/d of oil.

OCEAN PRODUCER floating production, storage, and offloading system on Dec. 10, 1991, started operations in Gombe-Beta field in the Atlantic Ocean off Gabon (OGJ, Oct. 14, 1991, p. 34). The 15,000 b/d FPSO, owned by Oceaneering International Services Ltd., Houston, is working in 50 ft of water under a contract with Amoco Gabon Gombe Marin Co.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK approved a $267 million loan and two technical assistance grants totaling $1.07 million for the Gandhar oil field development project in western India (OGJ, Oct. 30, 1989, p. 31). The loan has a repayment period of 2 years including a 4 year grace period.

OIL & GAS CO. OF IRELAND LTD., Buenos Aires, bought the stock of Unola de Argentina Ltd. from parent Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc., Houston, for $16 million. Unola holds 16 2/3% interest in crude oil production service contract 7559 in Mendoza province, Argentina. Unola's 1991 net oil production from the area was about 3,600 b/d. The sale does not affect Union Texas interests in Cuenca Colorado Marina block in Argentina.

HAMILTON BROS. OIL & GAS LTD. let contract to Brown & Root Ltd. for design, engineering, and procurement services for the Hamilton oil development on Block 110/13 in the U.K. Irish Sea (OGJ, Jan. 6, p. 36). Offshore facilities will include two usually unmanned platforms with about 30 miles of pipeline and subsea power/control cables.

AMERADA HESS LTD. started production from Angus field in U.K. North Sea Blocks 31/21 and 31/26a using the floating production storage and offloading tanker Petrojarl I (OGJ, Dec. 9, 1991, p. 24). Production from two subsea wells is currently about 25,000 b/d.

ALASKA OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION approved Conoco Inc.'s request for an area injection order to begin a waterflood of the upper Cretaceous Schrader Bluff oil pool of the Milne Point Unit on Alaska's North Slope (OGJ, Oct. 14, 1991, p. 38).

ALTERNATE FUELS

CHRYSLER CORP. will begin delivery in July of flexible fuel versions of its Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim to fleet and retail customers. The cars use a fuel sensing device allowing operation on any mix of gasoline and as much as 85% methanol. Cost of the fuel systems for the 1993 models will be absorbed by Chrysler.

COGENERATION

WASHINGTON ENERGY RESOURCES CO., Seattle, signed a 15 year contract to supply as much as 21 MMcfd of natural gas to a 160,000 kw cogeneration plant to be built in Bellingham, Wash., by Encogen Northwest LP. The contract begins in 1993 and covers 59% of the plant's expected fuel requirements. Power from the plant will be sold to Puget Sound Power & Light, and 130,000 lb/hr of steam will be sold to a nearby paper mill.

COMPANIES

EXXON CORP. agreed to pay a total of $9.9 million to California, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon to settle 1975-77 lawsuits alleging it fixed gasoline prices in the 1970s. The states charged Exxon, Chevron Corp., Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., Texaco Inc., Unocal Corp., and Atlantic Richfield Co. conspired to raise gasoline prices. Press reports indicated the states will continue to pursue legal action against the other companies.

ENRON CORP. completed purchase of Tenneco Inc.'s natural gas liquids business, including a methyl tertiary butyl ether plant under construction at La Porte. Tex., through a stock purchase valued at about $632 million (OGJ, Dec. 2, 1991, p. 30). Enron agreed to pay about $515 million, assume $110 million of the costs to complete the MTBE plant, and $7 million debt. The deal is part of a $2 billion divestiture plan announced by Tenneco in September 1991.

TRANSPORTATION

PETROBRAS claims a world record for deepwater laying of rigid gas pipeline. It installed 12 miles of 8 in. rigid gas pipeline in a water depth of 2,030 ft in the Campos basin off Brazil. The line links supergiant Marlim field's pilot gas production facilities with the Albacora-Garoupa trunk line in the basin. Petrobras' engineering department, which carried out the installation, estimated savings at 30% vs. installation of flexible pipe. Mannesmann AG handled fabrication for the $6.4 million project.

TOSCO CORP., Stamford, Conn., plans to purchase the 5 million bbl Riverhead terminal on eastern Long Island from Northville Industries Corp., Melville. N.Y. The facility includes deepwater marine facilities capable of accommodating vessels as large as 62 ft draft. Also, Tosco's Riverhead Marine Corp. bought the 38,000 dwt, U.S. flag Riverhead Spirit product tanker.

TOTAL acquired a 51% stake in the private Turkish storage and distribution company Uluslararasi Petrol Ticaretti AS (Upet), part of the Colakoglu Group. Upet will change its name to Total Turkey. Upet was established in 1990 as part of the liberalization of Turkey's oil market and operates in Northwest, West, and Central Turkey, accounting for about 68% of the Turkish motor fuels market. Total Turkey plans to double its market share in 3 years.

NOVA CORP. began repairs to a rupture on its natural gas pipeline (OGJ, Jan. 13, p. 26) and expected deliveries would be restored to near normal levels by Jan. 10. The break reduced transportation capacity at the Alberta-British Columbia border to 500 MMcfd from 1.6 bcfd and to 3.9 bcfd from 5.8 bcfd at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Cost of repairs is estimated at $7 million (Canadian).

CLEANUP CREWS were completing operations Jan. 8 in Cook Inlet, recovering most of the heavy oil spilled from a 10 in. rupture in a Chevron Corp. pipeline (OGJ, Jan. 13, p. 26). Original spill estimates of about 400 bbl were cut to about 171 bbl. By Jan. 8, skimmers had recovered 136 bbl of oil.

CLEANUP CREWS at Grand Isle, La., continued efforts to contain a spill caused by a pipeline rupture about 20 miles east (OGJ, Jan. 13, p. 26). The pipeline was clamped in two places by Jan. 6, the day of the rupture, and by Jan. 8, there were no indications of further spillage. U.S. Coast Guard estimated the spill at 240 bbl, while Conoco Inc. estimated 25 bbl.

GAS SUPPLY to Armenia resumed early this month after pipeline service shut down by Azerbaijan Nov. 4 was restored (OGJ, Dec. 2, 1991, Newsletter), Tass reported. One million cu m of gas was supplied to the republic Jan. 4, down from 1.5 million cu m supplied during the shutdown from domestic gas storage and a small amount from a Georgia pipeline. The blockade forced Armenia's industry to idle, schools to close, and apartments to go unheated.

CANADA'S National Energy Board will hold a hearing to review its 1991 decision denying TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.'s Blackhorse extension application (OGJ, Aug. 5, 1991, p. 19) based on a change in circumstance. FERC approved the Empire State Pipeline project (OGJ, July 22, 1991, p. 25) and rejected a rival proposal by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., owner of system connecting to TransCanada's line across the Niagara River.

TOTAL INDONESIA let a $71.7 million contract to Spie-Capag, Paris, for a 31 mile, 30-32 in. gas pipeline that will enable Total to double the size of its Tatun gas project in the delta of the Mahakam river in eastern Borneo.

PETROCHEMICALS

MARUZEN PETROCHEMICAL CO. LTD. let contract to ABB Lummus Crest Inc., Bloomfield, N.J., for engineering and construction of a 600,000 metric ton/year polymer grade ethylene plant based on Lummus Crest technology. The $650 million plant, to be built at Chiba, Japan, in mid-1993, will use naphtha, gas oil, and LPG feedstock to produce ethylene and 360,000 ton/year of propylene. Toyo Engineering Corp., Tokyo, is prime contractor.

TANKERS

AMOCO CORP. ordered a double hulled very large crude carrier from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan, to be built at the Nagasaki shipyard. Work will start this spring, with delivery scheduled for spring 1993.

Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.