TERMINALS
STATIA TERMINALS, Miami, opened its petroleum storage and marine terminal at Point Tupper, N.S., last month with arrival of the 45,000 dwt products tanker MV Fandango. The new terminal, designed for bulk tankers as large as 350,000 dwt, has capacity for 4 million bbl of light products and 3.6 million bbl of crude oil. Point Tupper Terminals Co., managed by Statia, is spending $50 million to refurbish former Gulf Oil refinery facilities at Point Tupper to revive tanker traffic in the deepest water on North America's Atlantic coast.
ACQUISITIONS
HANSON INDUSTRIES, the U.S. arm of Hanson plc., will acquire Quantum Chemical Corp. in a merger valued at $3.2 billion. Under the deal, Hanson will acquire all 36 million shares of outstanding Quantum common stock in a tax free exchange of shares equal to $20/share. Hanson also will acquire Quantum debt of about $2.5 billion. The merger is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Quantum is the biggest U.S. polyethylene producer, second largest U.S. retail distributor of propane, and a major industrial gases producer.
EQUITABLE RESOURCES INC. completed acquisition of Louisiana Intrastate Gas Co. from Arkla Inc. for $191 million. The purchase includes a big intrastate gas system in Louisiana along with four gas processing plants, many pipeline interconnects, and access to nearby extensive gas production. Equitable plans to use the assets to help create a Gulf Coast hub to offer a full menu of services in the region. it plans to keep LIG's pipeline and liquids processing offices in Alexandria, La., but move LIG headquarters in Houston to Equitable's Houston marketing headquarters.
BRITISH GAS SOUTHEAST ASIA LTD. acquired Sun Thailand Oil Co. (STOC) from parent Sun Co. Inc. STOC holds a 50% operating interest in Blocks 7, 8, and 9, covering 10,420 sq km in the Gulf of Thailand. Chevron Corp. holds a 33.33% interest in the three blocks and Petroleum Resources (Thailand) Pty. Ltd. 16.67%. Activity on the gas prone blocks is suspended pending resolution of overlapping claims between Thailand and Cambodia.
COGENERATION
ENSERCH CORP. dedicated its 160,000 kw gas fired, combined cycle cogeneration plant at Bellingham, Wash. The project, completed 6 weeks ahead of schedule and within budget, cost more than $100 million. Electrical power is sold to Puget Sound Power & Light under a long term agreement and steam and hot water sold to a Georgia Pacific pulp/paper mill and chemical plant.
COMPANIES
TAIWAN'S Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) is considering buying at least a 5% interest in Syncrude Canada Ltd., Fort McMurray, Alta. CPC is conducting a study of Syncrude's oilsands operations outlook. Taiwanese sources suggest a stake that size would call for an investment of at least $100 million.
PETROLEOS MEXICANOS floated its third bond issue on the Austrian bond market for about 700 million schillings ($67 million) as part of its continuing effort to tap financial markets outside the U.S. for its capital spending program. The issue will have a 5 year term, following Austrian bond issues in July 1990 and November 1991. The bonds, issued through Creditanstalt Bankverein, will pay 8.375%/year.
REFINING
TOSCO CORP. let a $35 million contract to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., to engineer and build a 2,000 b/d methyl tertiary butyl ether unit for its 145,000 b/cd Martinez, Calif., refinery, Jacobs through October is to engineer, procure materials, assemble process modules, and manage onsite construction of on-plot process units, associated utilities, and methanol unloading and storage facilities. The MTBE unit will use CDTech licensed technology that includes large process modules assembled at Jacobs' Orangeburg, S.C., site,
BONNER & MOORE MANAGEMENT SCIENCE and Profimatics Inc. are developing combined refinery application systems. Bonner & Moore's Blend 2000 off-line blending optimization system will be integrated with Profimatics' Oasys in-line blending optimization and multivariable control system. Profimatics' SIM software series packages for process unit simulation and optimization also will be integrated with Bonner & Moore's refinery and petrochemical modeling system, RPMS 2000.
SHELL U.K. LTD. will spend ***20 million to upgrade a diesel fuel unit at its Stanlow, U.K., refinery. Work includes modifying a 20 year old hydrodesulfurization unit to burn gas rather than oil, replacing pneumatic instrumentation with electronic, and simplifying and upgrading gas oil blending and storage units. Costain Oil, Gas & Process Ltd. will begin work early in 1994 and complete most of the upgrade by yearend 1994.
VALERO REFINING CO. installed a 45,000 scfh nitrogen plant at its Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery. The plant, built by Airco Gases, is part of a 15 year contract with Airco for onsite supply of liquid and gaseous nitrogen. Airco will provide technical services and production personnel. The nitrogen will be distributed to various refinery locations through existing pipelines.
DIAMOND SHAMROCK INC. started up a new 25,000 b/d hydrocracker at its Three Rivers, Tex., refinery, completing the company's biggest refinery expansion. The expansion jumps crude throughput to 70,000 b/d from 53,000 b/d and gasoline production by 50%. In addition to the hydrocracker and crude unit expansion, the project included expansion of the continuous catalytic cracker reformer, addition of a light ends unit and 20,000 b/d naphtha hydrotreater, and construction of a quality control lab.
STORAGE
EMIRATES PETROLEUM PRODUCTS CO. will expand products storage capacity at Jebel Ali, Dubai, by 1 million bbl to 2.5 million bbl, reported Middle East Economic Survey. The $11.7 million project is to be complete by early next year.
PIPELINES
SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT (SMUD) agreed to buy 55 MMcfd of gas for 15 years--extendable to 30 years--from Mojave Pipeline Co. to fuel four proposed cogeneration plants in the Sacramento, Calif., area. The first plant is to go on stream in 1995. The SMUD contract gives a major boost to Mojave's proposed $467 million, 475 MMcfd, 600 mile expansion of its system from Bakersfield to northern California. Mojave, a unit of El Paso Natural Gas Co., operates a 361 mile gas pipeline from the Arizona border to Bakersfield. It submitted an application for the expansion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Mar. 17 and hopes to begin construction in April 1994.
SWITZERLAND'S Allseas Group continues to add equipment to its Solitaire deepwater pipelaying vessel under construction (OGJ, Apr. 26, p. 38), awarding more than $42 million in contracts for components. When commissioned next year, the vessel will be able to lay pipe as large as 60 in. diameter in ultradeep waters.
GAS PROCESSING
CANADA'S National Energy Board approved an application by Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, B.C., for expansion of its Pine River gas processing plant and upstream companion Grizzly pipeline system, both near Chetwynd, B.C. The $231.5 million (Canadian) plant expansion will jump raw gas throughput to 560 MMcfd from 260 MMcfd as of Nov. 1, 1994. The $68.4 million pipeline expansion involves laying 46.3 miles of 12-3/4-24 in. line.
WARREN PETROLEUM CO. and Trident NGL Inc. closed an exchange of gas processing plants in Oklahoma and New Mexico. Warren acquired the 15 MMcfd Bluitt plant in Roosevelt County, N.M., from Trident. More than 700 miles of gathering lines feed the Bluitt plant with gas from three counties in New Mexico and five in Texas. Trident acquired the 7 MMcfd Kingfisher plant in Kingfisher County, Okla., and other assets from Warren. Trident plans to close the Kingfisher plant, merge its gathering system with Trident's nearby Rodman gathering system, and process the gas at its Rodman plant in Garfield County, Okla.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION TEST of a second well in Norne field in the Norwegian Sea suggested the field could produce 100,000-200,000 b/d of oil from relatively few wells, claimed Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS. The state company plans to submit development plans in 1994 for the 440 million bbl discovery, Statoil's biggest in 8 years, on Block 6608/10 in 1,300 ft of water (OGJ, Mar. 15, p. 32).
HAMILTON OIL CO. LTD. won U.K. Department of Trade & Industry approval to develop Johnston gas field on U.K. North Sea Blocks 43/26a and 43/27 at a cost of about 70 million. Hamilton will develop it as a subsea tieback to its North Ravenspurn central processing platform 4 miles away. Reserves are estimated at 170 bcf, with gas sales to Eastern Electricity plc to begin October 1994 and production to average 50 MMcfd.
SOUTH AFRICA'S MOSSGAS let contract to Genesis Engineering Consultants, London, for preliminary engineering of two expansions of the F-A natural gas production platform in Mossel Bay. The expansions cover subsea tieback of as many as six satellite wells and addition of export gas compression to extend the life of F-A field. Mossgas produces synthetic oil products from Mossel Bay gas.
EXPLORATION
PAKISTAN extended the deadline for applications for oil and gas exploration to Sept. 15 from July 15 to give companies more time to evaluate data. Pakistan is offering 17 exploration blocks, including three in the southern Potwar basin, three in the northern Sui Mari Eocene basin, four blocks near the lower Cretaceous Kandanwari gas discovery, two blocks on trend with southern Indus-Kithar gas basins, three blocks east of the prolific Badin concesson, and two blocks west of southern Indus basin. State owned Oil & Gas Development Corp. also is offering participation in some blocks.
OMV (ALBANIEN) EXPLORATION GMBH became 100% owner and operator of the Rodoni 1 Block off Albania by buying a 50% interest from Deminex AG. The block was awarded 50-50 to the two companies in 1991. OMV plans to drill a 10,000 ft wildcat on the block within the next 3 years.
ALASKA plans an offering of North Slope oil and gas leases in two sales scheduled for Sept. 21 in Anchorage. North Slope foothills Sale 57 will offer 196 tracts covering 1,033,248 acres of uplands between the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) corridor and the Killik River. Colville River exempt Sale 75A will offer 11 tracts covering about 16,903 acres on the Colville River delta, scene of a recent string of oil and gas strikes (OGJ, May 31, p. 15). Alaska also is seeking comments on its proposed Shaviovik Sale 80, scheduled for November 1994 and covering about 500,000 acres between the TAPS corridor and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
TECHNOLOGY LICENSING
CHINA PETROCHEMICAL INTERNATIONAL CO. and Research Institute of Petroleum Processing (RIPP) granted licensing rights outside China for RIPP's deep catalytic cracking technology to Stone & Webster Engineering Corp. Stone & Webster will provide marketing, design, engineering, and procurement services associated with the technology.
UOP INC. and Catalysts & Chemicals Industries Co. Ltd. (CCIC) signed an exclusive agreement to supply residue hydrotreating technology to the refining industry. The partnership will develop and optimize the resid hydrotreating/resid catalytic cracking process route to convert contaminated residues to transportation fuels. The cooperation combines CCIC's resid hydrotreating catalysts and UOP's design and start-up experience with high pressure hydroprocessing units.
PETROCHEMICALS
MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL CO. INC. (MGC) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) commissioned a methanol synthesis process that cuts overall plant energy consumption by 10%. Testing at MGC's Niigata, Japan, 520 metric ton/day methanol plant verified the new system's higher production efficiency. The double concentric tube method achieves higher conversion by cooling the catalyst and maximizing its activity. MHI said the new method's one pass conversion rate is more than double that of conventional converters.
GOVERNMENT
BANGLADESH unveiled its fourth 5 year energy plan, which includes increasing use of electrical power and natural gas by 11%. Plans call for private companies to drill as many as 10 wells in proven oil and gas basins and a proposal to lay a gas pipeline grid around Dhaka, as well as coal and peat exploitation.
ALTERNATE FUELS
NW ENERGY (WILLIAMS LAKE) CORP. dedicated a $150 million (Canadian), 60,000 kw biomass power plant at Williams Lake, B.C. Consuming more than 600,000 tons/year of wood waste from local sawmills, it is said to be the largest biomass power plant in North America and British Columbia's first independent power plant. NW Energy is a venture owned equally by BC Gas unit Inland Pacific Energy Corp., Tondu Energy, Systems Canadian Ltd., and WP Energy Canada.
Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.