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Total OPEC crude production averaged 26.16 million b/d last month, up 120,000 b/d from November, estimates Middle East Economic Survey (MEES).

MEES reckons Iraq exported about 8 million bbl of crude in second half December via Ceyhan, Turkey, and Mina Al-Bakr on the Persian Gulf.

"The OPEC increase was pretty much wholly attributable to the resumption of the flow of Iraqi oil exports to world markets in mid-December," said MEES.

For 1996 as a whole, OPEC oil production recorded a healthy gain, averaging 25.464 million b/d last year vs. 24.77 million b/d in 1995.

The largest part of the increase came from a boost of 390,000 b/d in Venezuelan production to an average 3.043 million b/d in 1996, MEES says. Other big 1996 output increases were registered by Nigeria 166,000 b/d, Iran 96,000 b/d, Qatar 57,000 b/d, and Indonesia 56,000 b/d.

"This 3.5% volume increase, together with a price rise of more than 20%-the OPEC basket price rose to $20.29/bbl in 1996 from $16.86/bbl in 1995-combined to make 1996 a bumper year for OPEC," MEES said.

Amid predictions by EIA that more than 385,000 on-road vehicles will be powered by fuels other than gasoline and diesel in 1997, there's major news on the alternate fuels front (see related story, p. 20).

Chrysler reports a "breakthrough" in alternate fuels technology.

The automaker is developing a fuel cell that extracts hydrogen from gasoline to produce electricity to power vehicles and is getting high marks from the Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC) in Washington, D.C.

"This new technology offers the first major step to bridge the gap from current fuel cell designs to the fuel cells for the future," said Doug Durante, CFDC's executive director. CFDC is a nonprofit organization of refiners, automakers, agriculture organizations, ethanol producers, MTBE manufacturers, and engineering and design firms that support cleaner-burning fuels and additives, including reformulated gasoline.

Chrysler says its process may cut 10 years from the expected widespread debut of fuel cell-powered vehicles. It contends a demonstration vehicle will be available within 2 years with the same driving range as today's cars but with better fuel economy and 90% fewer emissions.

The Chrysler process converts gasoline into hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and water in a multi-stage chemical reaction. But any fuel, including diesel, methane, or alcohol may be used, it said. An electrochemical process then converts hydrogen into electricity and water, and the electricity drives the vehicle's motor.

An onboard fuel processor means an extensive network of hydrogen re- fueling stations won't be needed immediately, currently an obstacle to commercialization of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

Energy mergers, strategic alliances, and restructuring continue in the U.S.

El Paso Energy, which paid $4 billion to acquire Tenneco Energy, has sold Tenneco Ventures, the former E&P and capital finance unit, for $105 million.

The former Tenneco unit, renamed Domain Energy Corp., is now owned by its managers and investor First Reserve Corp. Sale proceeds will help pay Tenneco debt.

Coastal Corp. is restructuring its refined products marketing and supply operations in the eastern U.S.

Restructuring, expected to extend through yearend, will involve organizing activities around product lines instead of geographic areas.

Coastal, which operates refineries in New Jersey, Texas, and Aruba with total combined capacity of 435,000 b/d, will no longer sell product regularly from about 40 of the 60 third-party terminals it previously used; rather, it will focus on sales from its own 18 terminals, plus about 20 remaining third-party operations.

Move is expected to trim about 100 jobs, mostly in the U.S. Northeast. Coastal-branded gasoline marketers and other customers currently holding contracts will not be affected, Coastal said.

Meanwhile, Enron Corp. will use high-dollar national exposure to advertise "brand name" retail electricity marketing-an estimated $200 billion consumer market-amid its proposed merger with Portland General Corp. (OGJ, Sept. 16, 1996, p. 16).

Enron has adopted a logo resembling a cattle brand apparently meant to suggest "brand name" retail energy marketing. To kick off its brand-identification push, Enron will spend $30 million for ads in 1997 alone, starting during the Super Bowl championship football game Jan. 26, when TV ads air in Houston, Portland, New York, Omaha, and Washington, D.C.

Separately, Enron has formed a strategic alliance with Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) to speed access to the rapidly growing market there.

Partnership allows Enron to extend utility services to as many as 700,000 new NCPA customers, as power deregulation phases in beginning in 1998 under recently enacted state legislation.

Elsewhere on the strategic alliance front in California, Williams Cos. has formed a joint venture with Mid-Kern Energy Marketing Co. called Rio Bravo Energy Marketing LLC. Company will gather, blend, market, and distribute crude oil in Kern and Los Angeles counties, as well as transport oil to producers and develop crude supply for California refiners.

Detroit's MCN Corp. has changed its name to MCN Energy Group Inc. to better reflect its evolution into a diversified energy company.

Its two major business groups are Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., a natural gas distribution-transmission company, and its Diversified Energy Group-operating through MCN Investment Corp. (Mcnic)-which is involved in oil and gas E&P, gas gathering/processing, energy marketing, gas storage, electric power generation, and other energy-related businesses.

On the power side, Mcnic expects to consummate its first project in India in coming weeks. It has a total of seven or eight power/energy projects on tap in India that are expected to reach fruition beginning in 1997. The first involves power generation and distribution in western India; other projects that could be concluded in 1997 cover related projects in southern and central India. Still more planned projects involve coal, gas, hydro, and naphtha.

Mcnic maintains success in India hinges on building solid relationships in the country, and it has lined up many partners to advance its plans. "The key is...finding the right partners," said Mcnic Pres. Rai Bhargava.

India continues its aggressive campaign to increase foreign investment in its oil and gas industry to meet surging domestic oil demand.

The country hopes to rein growth of oil imports spurred by declining domestic oil output and soaring refined products demand, which totaled 69 million metric tons in fiscal 1995-96 vs. 55 million tons in 1991.

"The demand for petroleum products is expected to go up to nearly 124 million metric tons in the next 12 years and is rising at a yearly rate of 7%," said Minister of Industry Muraso* Maran. If steps are not taken to counter this trend, he predicts India's dependence on refined products imports will hit 50%.

India's ONGC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Unocal to study development of gas reserves in the state of Tripura, as well as economic feasibility of a trans-India gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Tripura's reserves are capable of supporting a productive capacity of 70 MMcfd of gas, and Tripura gas could be transported via pipeline to eastern India.

Unocal, proposing a 2,000-km, 48-in. pipeline to move gas to India from Turkmenistan, earlier signed an MOU with Russia's Gazprom and Turkmenrusgaz that calls for Unocal and Saudi Arabia's Delta Oil to lay a 2 bcfd, 900-km pipeline to move gas from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Central Pakistan (OGJ, Aug. 19, 1996, p. 43).

Deregulation of the Japanese downstream sector is pushing local companies to invest abroad, including projects in Taiwan and India.

Mitsubishi Oil aims to capitalize on growing refined products demand in Asia by increasing its presence in a number of countries.

Among projects on tap is a joint venture in Taiwan starting this year to operate a chain of service stations. The company first plans to open about 20 stations within 2-3 years, mainly in urban areas. There are about 1,300 stations in Taiwan, a level expected to top 2,000 the next several years.

Meanwhile, Western Petro Diamond Private, a venture of Mitsubishi and Western India Group, plans a 188,700 bbl kerosine tank farm this year at Bombay at a cost of more than $8.6 million. Western Petro also plans two more complexes to store kerosine imported from the Middle East and elsewhere. And in Myanmar, Mitsubishi is cooperating with a state-run petroleum sales company in trial wholesaling of high-octane gasoline.

Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp. is moving to privatize by 2001.

According to Taiwan's Commission of National Corporations, plans include CPC issuing global depository receipts overseas to attract oil majors as potential investors and an initial float of 15% of its outstanding shares in fiscal 1998 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Copyright 1997 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.