Table of Contents

• Greek refinery uses data reconciliation to calibrate instruments
  An on-line data reconciliation system (DRS) has been developed for the diesel production process of the Hellenic Aspropyrgos Refinery SA's refinery in Aspropyrgos, Greece. The new system successfully recognizes and prompts the operator of malfunctions in specific instrumentation.
• Nelson-Farrar Cost Indexes
  Copyright 1998 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
• How refinery fuel indexes have varied
  Index for refinery fuels [82,341 bytes] Itemized refining cost indexes [198,860 bytes] Itemized refining cost indexes Refinery fuels costs have endured a steady incline since 1995, except for a period in 1995 and 1997. As shown in the accompanying table, most of the PADD residual fuels' increases in cost occurred in 1996 for all of the five PADD districts. PADD 4 remained the same overall, while PADD 1 incurred the highest increase in price over the period.

• Prices and other surprises
  Surprise. The year just past was full of it. Here's hoping that 1999 is full of surprise, too. It was not a surprise that crude oil lost roughly 40% of its annual average value in 1998. The were reasons for that to happen, reasons clear to everyone. It was the principal reason for the price plunge that surprised nearly everyone: the end of Asia's economic boom.

• U.S. mergers, acquisitions soar in 1998
  Preliminary data on U.S. upstream acquisitions for 1998 reveal a record activity level for the second year in a row, says Randall & Dewey Inc., Houston. In a report released before the merger plans of Exxon Corp.-Mobil Corp. and Total-Petrofina SA were announced, Randall & Dewey said it was expecting 1998 transaction volumes to double the adjusted 1997 volume of $23.9 billion, due in large part to the BP-Amoco deal (OGJ, Aug. 17, 1998, p. 34). But, given the Exxon-Mobil and Total-Petrofina
• How oil and gas companies fought 1998 and won
  What a difference a year makes [71,439 bytes] Introducing an annual turn-of-the-year feature that offers special perspectives by OGJ editors on the worldwide petroleum industry, this article is the last of a three-part series examining the current state of the industry and expectations for the coming year. This week, OGJ Editor John Kennedy offers his perspective on 1998 and 1999. Markets and mergers. More precisely, bad oil markets and big oil mergers turned last year's happy days of
• Time ripe for E&P professional societies to start integrating
  At today's oil prices, we can ill afford outmoded ways of doing business. Volatile market conditions continually force our entire industry to seek innovative ways to boost productivity, control costs, and solve complex exploration and production problems more effectively. All across the globe, energy companies, oil field service firms, and technology suppliers are downsizing, consolidating, and forming previously unheard-of partnerships and strategic alliances.
• Myth information
  A recent survey has found that Americans' impressions of environmental trends bear little resemblance to the truth. The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, Washington, D.C., used the Roper Starch Worldwide polling organization to question 2,000 citizens about environmental issues. It found Americans rely on outdated or incorrect data about the environment, and often rely on outright myths.
• Pdvsa's Giusti resigns following elections
  State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa) Pres. Luis Giusti says he will step down from his post on Feb.1, 1999, 1 day before the inauguration of new Venezuelan President Hugo Ch vez Frias and a full year before Giusti completes his third 2-year term at the helm of one of the world's leading oil companies. Giusti's decision to quit came as no surprise, given that President-elect Ch vez has strongly criticized Pdvsa and announced his intention to revise the company's spending
• NPC sees no product inventory problems
  The National Petroleum Council predicts stock levels of major light petroleum products are likely to continue the slow downward trend of the past few years. NPC, the U.S. Energy Secretary's oil industry advisory panel, said the trend has resulted from continued storage management efficiency gains despite an increasing number of product formulations needed to meet environmental regulations. Former Energy Sec. Federico Pe?a had asked NPC to study product supplies following tight supply
• What next for Iraq?
  As the smoke clears after the recent air strikes on Iraq by the U.S. and U.K., it is difficult to see what will happen next. Reliable information is difficult to come by: both the U.S. and U.K. governments are not renowned as straight-talkers, while verifiable news from Iraq is at best rare. The U.S. and U.K. damaged their credibility as United Nations Security Council members by the attacks: only Washington and Westminster appear convinced the attacks were not politically expedient.
• INDUSTRY BRIEFS
  An Iranian tanker collided with a jetty at the port of Bandar-Abbas in southern Iran, spilling a reported 100 metric tons of crude oil in the Persian Gulf. The tanker was transporting 60,000 tons of oil. At presstime, the incident was still under investigation. The Gas Industry Standards Board
• International E&P fatalities increase in 1997
  One hundred workers in the international exploration and production industry died in work-related accidents in 1997, a rise from 74 deaths in 1996. This is the finding of the Oil Industry International Exploration & Production Forum (E&P Forum), London, which said vehicle accidents continue to be the main cause of death among E&P workers. The forum said one third of the deaths involved vehicles, while aircraft incidents were the second most common cause of death: 14 workers were killed in
• Associations oppose delay in EPA's UST rule
  Four petroleum marketing-related associations have complained about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to offer a grace period to tank owners not in compliance with underground storage tank (UST) regulations. The American Petroleum Institute, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, and the National Association of Convenience Stores lodged the complaint.
• Duke buys Bass Strait gas line project
  Duke Energy International LLC has acquired from BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and Westcoast Energy Australia Pty. Ltd. the rights to develop and operate the Eastern Gas Pipeline project in southeastern Australia. The high-pressure pipeline will transport natural gas from the BHP-Esso Australia Ltd. gas processing plant at Longford, Vict., up Australia's east coast to Sydney (OGJ, Feb. 24, 1997, p. 45). BHP and Westcoast Energy each reached agreement with Duke for the transfer of its 50% equity
• Area Drilling
  Termo Co., Long Beach, Calif., acquired about 1,800 acres of leases in Section 28 salt dome field, St. Martin Parish, from Apache Corp. The leases, producing more than 200 b/d of oil equivalent, adjoin existing Termo holdings, making it the main leaseholder there. Termo plans an aggressive exploitation program. The Exploration Co., San Antonio, said its 2-25E Paloma well in Prickly Pear field of Maverick County cut at least 40 ft of reef that appears to be capable of gas production.

• Four year study to examine NORM in Mississippi wells
  A move is under way in the U.S. to quantify human health risks, if any, from the radioactive constituents of the produced brines and brine by-products that are associated with produced oil and gas streams. Residents that live near producing sites in Mississippi and other states have sued several current and former operating companies for damages related to alleged increased health risks. The risks relate to production streams, pipe scale, and sludge that may contain naturally occurring

• NORM-disposal options, costs vary
  Commercial Norm Disposal [89,131 bytes] Definitions [41,251 bytes] Petroleum producers have various options with different associated costs for disposing of oil field waste containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). NORM can be disposed of both on the lease site and at offsite commercial disposal facilities.
• Sasol details petrochemical project plans
  Sasol Ltd., Johannesburg, announced a plan to build five new plants to expand its solvents capacity, at a combined cost of more than 1.5 billion rand ($250 million). Sasol said the investments are part of a 14 billion rand, 5-year capital expansion program, which follows an investment of 7.5 billion rand over the past 3 years. The new projects are: an 825 million rand normal-butanol plant; a 270 million rand ethyl acetate plant; a 240 million rand hexene plant; a 140 million rand high-purity

• High-strength steel becomes standard on Alberta gas system
  Construction in summer 1994 of 33 km of NGT's Eastern Alberta system main line (48-in. OD; 12-mm W.T.) was the first North American long-distance, large-diameter pipeline to use Grade 550 steels. Here, a pipe crew lines up the next joint before performing the root pass with an internal welder. (Photograph from TCPL, Calgary)

• Angola awards PSAs for two Kwanza basin deepwater blocks
  Angola's state petroleum firm Sonangol awarded deepwater production-sharing agreements (PSAs) to two groups led by, respectively, BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and Texaco Inc. BHP is the operator of Block 21, which covers 5,000 sq km of the Kwanza basin and has water depths ranging from 500 m to 1,700 m. The block lies roughly 60 km off the Angolan coast. BHP said its PSA provides for an initial 4-year exploration phase. The operator began the acquisition of 2,500 sq km of 3D seismic data on the
• Glimmers of hope seen in North Korean basins, markets
  Korean contractor's aging Romanian rig drills well No. 401 for SOCO International plc in North Korea. Photo courtesy of SOCO. North Korea and East Asian Basins [164,830 bytes] West Korean Basin Stratigraphy [144,649 bytes] West Korean Basin Cross-Section [77,144 bytes] The view which used to be held in oil circles was that there was not much, if any, commercial oil to be found off North Korea.
• Fort Worth basin operator to add Barnett shale infill wells, reserves
  An independent producer plans to develop more gas in Mississippian-Devonian Barnett shale in the Fort Worth basin. The Texas Railroad Commission approved field rule amendments that will allow increased well density in the formation. Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. said the rules permit it to drill wells in Newark East field on as little as 40 acre spacing. Mitchell expects that as many as 100 wells with a combined 80 bcf of estimated net gas reserves will be added to the proved undeveloped

OGJ Newsletter

• OGJ Newsletter
  There are faint signs of progress on reducing supply to bolster oil prices. Venezuela will achieve 100% compliance with its promised production cuts at the beginning of this year, pledges Deputy Energy and Mines Minister Dolores Dobarro. On Jan. 1, Venezuela's output was set to drop by 80,000-100,000 b/d, said Dobarro. Her announcement follows President-elect Hugo Ch vez's vow to comply fully with promised cuts and to review Venezuela's pledges in March with a view to extending them