Industry Briefs

Aug. 2, 1999
Repsol-YPF SA started up the 200 MMcfd Salam gas processing plant--part of a major gas project on the Khalda concession in Egypt's western desert (OGJ, Sept. 21, 1998, p.46).

Correction
Ground-breaking
took place for the Cobisa-Person power plant in Bernalillo County, N.M., last month, not start-up, as reported incorrectly; the plant is scheduled for completion in May 2000 (OGJ, July 29, 1999, p. 46).

Gas processing
Repsol-YPF SA
started up the 200 MMcfd Salam gas processing plant-part of a major gas project on the Khalda concession in Egypt`s western desert (OGJ, Sept. 21, 1998, p. 46). Concession partners are operator Repsol-YPF, 50%; Apache Corp., Houston, 40%; and Novus Petroleum Ltd., Sydney, 10%. The newest phase of the project will boost gas and liquids production at Khalda to 100,000 boed from 37,000 boed. The project also includes the 100 MMcfd Tarek gas processing plant, scheduled to start up soon, and a 320-km spur to the trunk line at Salam. State-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. will buy 200 MMcfd of the Khalda gas; separately, Dahshur South, Cairo, will buy 50 MMcfd via a southern pipeline under construction.

Spills
About 2,800 bbl of oil
spilled off Manila July 25 after the Mary Anne tanker sank in heavy seas. The Philippine coast guard was still working at presstime to raise the vessel and contain the spill. At least one crew member remained missing at last report.

Companies
Apache Corp.
and an affiliate of GE Capital Structured Finance Group, Stamford, Conn., formed Apache Capital-I LP. The partnership will acquire certain oil and gas assets in the U.S. Midcontinent and Texas from Apache for $40.5 million; Apache will serve as operator of the properties` wells.

Kerr-McGee Oil (U.K.) plc,
acquired a 56% interest in North Sea Block 9/23a from Shell U.K. Ltd. and Esso Exploration & Production U.K. Ltd. The block borders Block 9/18b, which contains Gryphon field, operated by Kerr-McGee. The firm plans to acquire an additional 15% interest in Gryphon, increasing its holdings in the field to 61.5%.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP,
Houston, agreed to buy Chester, Va.-based Primary Corp.`s transmix processing plants in Richmond, Va., and Dorsey Junction, Md., for about $37 million, divided equally between cash and common units. Transmix is a mixture of petroleum products, collected as a by-product of pipeline operations. The two facilities are projected to process over 2.77 million bbl of transmix in 1999. Primary`s Richmond plant has a processing capacity of about 8,000 b/d, and the Dorsey Junction plant can process 5,000 b/d.

Refining
Uruguayan state oil firm Ancap
selected two Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) technologies for use in its La Teja refinery at Montevideo. Ancap will add a 12,000 b/d Octanizing unit (a continuous-regeneration catalytic reformer) and a 6,000 b/d paraffin isomerization unit. Also, by incorporating IFP`s R2R technology in its fluid catalytic cracker, Ancap will increase its FCC capacity to 12,000 b/d from 9,000 b/d.

Exploration
Poco Petroleums Ltd.
and Chevron Canada Resources Ltd., both of Calgary, will perform a joint natural gas exploration program in Alberta and British Columbia worth about $250 million (Canadian). Poco intends to spend $100 million on drilling, and Chevron will contribute about $150 million for seismic surveys. The program covers about 593,000 acres of Chev- ron-owned undeveloped acreage in the West Kaybob area of Alberta and the Maxhamish area of northeastern British Columbia and 128,000 acres of Poco`s land. Poco plans to drill 16 wells targeting deep gas prospects over the next 2 years on the Chevron lands, with an option for a third year and co-drilling with Chevron.

Unocal Corp. and Repsol-YPF
halted their plans to jointly explore for hydrocarbons on the CAA-9 high-risk block in the San Matias sedimentary basin in Argentina. The decision came after Argentina`s Energy and Ports Secretariat delayed approval for the firms` licensing amid environmental concerns (OGJ, June 21, 1999, p. 34).

Drilling-production
Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd.
began oil production at its Sakhalin II project in the Russian Far East under one of Russia`s first foreign production-sharing agreements (OGJ, July 19, 1999, p. 44). Sakhalin II shareholders are Marathon Sakhalin Ltd., 37.5%; Royal Dutch/Shell, 25%; Japan`s Mitsui Co., 25%; and Mitsubishi Corp. unit Diamond Gas Exploration Ltd., 12.5%. The group expects to produce about 45,000 b/d for the rest of the year and double this production in 2000.

The Partitioned Neutral Zone Group,
a joint venture of Saudi Arabian Texaco and Kuwait Oil Co., let contract to the King Wilkinson (Saudi Arabia) Ltd. unit of AMEC plc, London, for services in the Saudi-Kuwaiti Neutral Zone. Under the 3-year deal, King Wilkinson will carry out design, engineering, construction, and field engineering support for production operations in the region. Kuwait is expected to increase its production in the Neutral Zone. Output from the territory is roughly 300,000 b/d of oil.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co.,
Dallas, intends to increase oil production from the western Neuquen sedimentary basin and the southernmost portion of the Tierra del Fuego peninsula in Argentina to a combined 10,000 b/d by yearend from the current level of 7,500 b/d. The increase will be achieved with a $20 million drilling program and a workover program on a recently acquired field in western Argentina. Countrywide, Pioneer will drill 20 oil wells in 1999. Also, the firm plans to increase output at its recently acquired Neuquen del Medio block to about 2,000 b/d from 100 b/d in the coming years by working over 6-10 wells beginning this year and drilling at least 2 more development wells.

Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach
let a $30 million contract to Sofresid, the engineering unit of Bouygues Offshore SA, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France, for engin- eering, procurement, and construction of a new gas compression station in Gassi Touil gas field, about 150 km southeast of Hassi Messaoud oil field in Algeria. Facilities delivery is slated for third quarter 2001.

Terminals
Lithuania
started up an oil products export-import terminal at Butinge on its Baltic Sea coast. Construction of the $250 million marine terminal, about 7.5 km offshore and close to the Latvian border, took more than 3 years (OGJ, Jan. 30, 1995, p. 48). The terminal will serve as a key export route for Russian crude oil and for refined products from Lithuania`s Mazeikiai refinery. The first tanker will carry 70,000 metric tons of crude oil from Russian firm Yukos to BP Amoco plc`s Rotterdam refinery; Yukos plans to transport about 2 million tons of crude oil through Butinge this year. Lithuania intends to sell to Williams, Tulsa, a 33% stake in the terminal and refinery.

LNG
Taiwan`s Ministry of the Interior
gave conditional approval to Tuntex Group for its plan to build a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal and ancillary facilities in northern Taiwan. If granted final approval, the project, which must first undergo an intensive environmental review, will cover an area of more than 1,170 hectares of reclaimed tidelands. The $2.84 billion project, to be built in two stages, will include docks designed for handling cement, sand, oil products, petrochemicals, and sundry bulk cargoes in addition to LNG off-loading and storage facilities.

Petrochemicals
Nan Ya Plastics Corp.
began a test run of its new 300,000 metric ton/year ethylene glycol (EG) plant in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Nan Ya`s Taiwan production facilities turn out 800,000 tons/year of polyester fiber, creating demand for about 280,000 tons/year of EG feed. Once the plant begins full-scale production, Nan Ya will become Taiwan`s largest EG producer, surpassing Oriental Union Chemical Corp.`s 175,000 tons/year of capacity and China Man-made Fiber Corp.`s 100,000 tons/year. Nan Ya plans to obtain ethylene feed from Formosa Plastic Corp.`s 900,000 ton/year second naphtha cracker.

Repsol Química
and Mexico`s DESC SA de CV unit Girsa formed a 50-50 partnership in solution synthetic rubbers called Dynasol Elastómeros. Repsol operates a 110,000 metric ton/year plant at Santander, Spain, and has a strong presence in the European thermoplastic rubber market. Girsa affiliate Industrias Negromex SA de CV operates a 90,000 ton/ year plant at Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Jilin Chemical Industrial Group,
Jilin, China, let a $144 million contract to Linde Impianti Italia SpA, Rome-the Italian unit of Germany`s Linde AG-for the engineering and supply of equipment, materials, technical services, and process licenses for a 1,000 metric ton/day ammonia plant to be built at Jilin. The plant, which is expected to be operational in 2002, will use Linde`s oxygen generation, Rectisol acid-gas removal, and liquid nitrogen wash processes and Texaco Inc.`s gasification and Ammonia Casale synthesis loop technologies.

BP Amoco
plans to close its polybutene production plant at Grangemouth, Scotland, in the fourth quarter. The plant has capacity to produce 50,000 metric tons/year. The plant closure is part of a rationalization of the merged companies` assets. Before the merger, BP had 80,000 tons/year of polybutene capacity at Lavera, France; since then BP has added 225,000 tons/year of capacity at the Texas City, Tex., and Whiting, Ind., refineries from the Amoco portfolio. Sixty jobs will be lost. BP Amoco plans to offer staff early retirement or redeployment to new units being built at the Grangemouth site (OGJ, Aug. 18, 1997, p. 15).

Power
El Paso Energy International Co.,
a unit of El Paso Energy Corp., Houston, and General Electric Co. unit GE Power Systems formed a consortium with Spain`s Initec and Brazil`s ITS to determine the feasibility of developing a gas-fired power generation complex in Brazil with potential capacity of 2,000 MW. The proposed power complex, which will comprise four to seven plants, is expected to be in operation by 2003. The partners estimate the project will cost $1 billion.

Cordova Energy Co. LLC,
a unit of CalEnergy Generation-the unregulated generation unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., Des Moines-signed a power sales agreement with El Paso Power Services Co., a unit of El Paso Energy. Cordova will supply power from its planned 537-MW gas-fired power plant to be built in northern Rock Island County, Ill. El Paso will be permitted to buy all of the project`s electricity output until Dec. 31, 2019; the project is slated to begin commercial operation in mid-2001. Cordova recently let contract to Stone & Webster Inc. for project construction (OGJ, July 12, 1999, p. 34).

Cogeneration
GE Power Systems
and partner BP Amoco received British government approval to build a $500 million, 500-MW natural gas-fired, combined heat and power plant at the Baglan Energy Park in South Wales, U.K. The plant, slated for completion in 2002, will use GE`s H System technology, comprising a gas turbine, a steam turbine, and a heat recovery system. The plant is a joint project of the Welsh Development Agency, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, and BP Amoco.

Equistar Chemicals LP,
Houston, chose Reliant Energy, Houston, to build a 750-MW, natural gas-fired cogeneration plant to supply power and steam for Equistar`s Channelview, Tex., petrochemical complex and to provide power for at least 10 other Equistar facilities in Texas. The plant, to be built at Channelview, is expected to come on-line by fourth quarter 2001. Power from the plant will be sold through a long-term marketing agreement with Reliant`s wholesale energy marketing arm.

Pipelines
Algonquin Gas Transmission,
a unit of Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, N.C., is holding an open season until Aug. 12 for firm transportation services for its proposed HubLine natural gas pipeline. The 24-in. HubLine will extend 24 miles across Massachusetts Bay, connecting Algonquin`s system just south of Boston to the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline near Salem, Mass. Hub- Line is expected to come on stream in 2002.

CMS Gas Transmission & Storage Co.,
the international pipeline unit of CMS Energy Corp., Dearborn, Mich., acquired an additional 4.42% interest in Argentina`s Transportadora de Gas del Norte (TGN) natural gas pipeline for $31 million, bringing its total stake to 29.42%. TGN includes 5,007 km of gas pipelines, 256,910 hp of installed compression, and 15 compressor stations that provide gas transmission service to northern and central Argentina. TGN connects northern Argentina`s Noroeste gas-producing basin and central Argentina`s Neuquen basin with markets in Buenos Aires and Mendoza provinces and the central region of the country.

Plains Scurlock Permian LP,
an operating partner of Plains All American Pipeline LP, Houston, acquired Chevron Pipe Line Co.`s West Texas crude oil pipeline and gathering system for about $35 million. Included in the deal are about 450 miles of crude transmission lines, about 340 miles of associated gathering and lateral lines, and 3 million bbl of crude storage and terminal capacity in Crane, Ector, Midland, Upton, Ward, and Winkler counties, Tex. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., which ships about 24,000 b/d on the system, will continue to transport its equity crude oil under a 12-year contract.

Gas storage
Seneca Lake Storage Inc.
(SLSI), a subsidiary of Energy East Enterprises, Albany, N.Y., plans to develop a high-deliverability natural gas storage facility in two salt caverns at Reading, N.Y., owned by U.S. Salt. SLSI expects to begin operating the facility in November 2001. The projected working gas capacity is 735.8 MMcf, and the facility will be capable of delivering up to 73.6 MMcfd. SLSI also plans to construct a 3.2-mile pipeline to connect the caverns with the Columbia Gas Transmission System to the west.