Gas distribution
Mexico's Energy Regulatory Commission
(CRE) created a geographic zone for natural gas distribution covering 51 towns in Puebla and Tlaxcala states in Mexico. Development of the Puebla-Tlaxcala distribution network will require capital investment of $50 million, CRE said. It plans to begin a permit bidding process for the area shortly.
Sao Paulo state's secretary of energy
called for tenders for a concession to distribute gas to about 375 towns in the northwestern part of the Brazilian state; the concession covers more than 120,000 sq km. Sao Paulo Energy Utility Commission Pres. Zevi Khan said the 30-year concession could be renewable for 20 more years and has an initial 12-year exclusivity period. Authorities have held a public hearing and intend to publish bidding rules by mid-September. An award for the concession is to be given by yearend, authorities say.
Refining
United Refining Co.
and Allegheny Energy let a contract reportedly worth $300-400 million to Foster Wheeler Power Systems Inc., a unit of Foster Wheeler Corp., Clinton, N.J., for engineering, procurement, and construction to upgrade United's Warren, Pa., refinery and install a cogeneration plant at the refinery. The project will entail: building a 100-MW cogeneration plant, equipped with a circulating fluidized-bed boiler; and installing a coker, hydrotreater, and associated equipment, plus other upgrades. Construction is slated to begin by early 2001.
A group led by
Singapore investor Brian Chang is exploring the possibility of building a 50,000 b/d refinery in Pakistan. The group was asked to make a firm proposal for the refinery by the Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum. Chang also recently met with the Secretary of the Ministry of Communication to discuss prospects for the construction of a related marine terminal at Karachi port. Chang's firm already has substantial investment in Pakistan, with a 10% share in IPP Hubco, a 24% stake in Asia Pipelines, and a 34% share in the Fauji Oil terminal.
Exploration
TotalFina SA
acquired a 15% stake in a deepwater license area 100 km off Surinam. Other partners in the 48,000-sq km area are: operator Burlington Resources Inc., 35%; Shell Surinam, 35%; and Korean National Oil Corp., 15%. The license area is split into a 16,000 sq km nearshore zone with water depths of 50-200 m and a 32,698 sq km outer zone in waters as deep as 2,500 m. The partners will conduct 2D and 3D seismic surveys and intend to begin drilling as early as 2000.
Elf Petroland BV
drilled a gas discovery on Block L4a off the Netherlands, close to a find made in April on adjacent Block K5a. On test, the well flowed 895,000 cu m/day from Rotliegendes pay at 4,036 m. Elf said additional studies will be carried out to define the most efficient development scheme for the discovery. The earlier find was developed with a single wellhead tied back to a nearby platform. Block L4 interest holders are: operator Elf, 37.11%; Energie Beheer Nederland BV, 40%; Total Oil & Gas Nederland BV, 18.55%; and Coparex Netherlands BV, 4.34%.
Vastar Resources Inc.,
Houston, found oil on its Horn Mountain prospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 127 in the Gulf of Mexico. Partners in the block are operator Vastar, with two-thirds interest, and Occidental Petroleum Corp., with the remaining one-third interest. The well, drilled to 14,677 TD, cut 285 ft of net pay in two primary and two secondary zones-all of Miocene age. The primary intervals hold 33° gravity oil, says Vastar, and the well was sidetracked downdip, which confirmed a hydrocarbon column at least 500 ft thick.
OMV Australia Pty. Ltd.
secured a 6-year exploration license for the WA-292-P permit in the Beagle sub-basin on the North West Shelf off Western Australia. The block covers 6,150 sq km and has been sparsely explored to date; the Nebo-1 wildcat, drilled in 1993, encountered non-commercial quantities of oil. OMV plans a 3-year work program, expected to cost $23 million (Austalian), which includes acquisition of 3,550 line-km of 2D seismic data and drilling of two wells. License interests are split equally among OMV, Agip Exploration BV, and IB Resources Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd.
Chieftain International Inc.,
Edmonton, Alta., disclosed an oil and gas discovery on High Island Blocks A-510 and A-531 off Texas. The well was drilled to 11,107 ft TD and cut more than 260 net ft of pay in multiple zones. Further drilling is planned in the area prior to the design and installation of production facilities. Equal interests are held by operator Chieftain and Tana Oil & Gas Corp. This well was drilled as part of Chieftain's 15-well program for second half 1999 in the Gulf of Mexico region, offshore and onshore.
Lubes
American Refining Group
(ARG), Bradford, Pa., wants to market lubricants in China and is ready to establish a joint-venture or wholly owned blending plant in the country after completing research and testing of the market there. ARG reportedly will seek a partnership with a Chinese concern to sell its Penn-branded lubricants. ARG acquired Witco Corp.'s Bradford refinery, renaming the related business unit ARG Lubricants & Specialty Products, in March 1997. Foreign companies have established 80 lubricants blending plants in China. About 20% of 2.3 million metric tons of China's lubricants supply comes from foreign firms.
Drilling-production
Petroleo Brasileiro SA
claimed a deepwater drilling record with a well off Brazil in 8,017 ft of water. The well was drilled by Noble Drilling Corp.'s Paul Wolff submersible rig (OGJ, Oct. 5, 1998, p. 60). The previous record was set by Chevron Corp. with Global Marine Inc.'s Glomar Explorer, drilled in 7,718 ft of water in Atwater Valley in the Gulf of Mexico (OGJ, May 3, 1999, p. 69).
Petrobras
let a $53 million, 2-year contract to Stolt Comex Seaway MS Ltd., Aberdeen, for charter of the Seaway Condor pipelay ship. The ship will be used beginning second quarter 2000 to lay flexible flowlines in Brazil's Campos basin field developments, where water depths average about 1,500 m. Meanwhile, the Seaway Condor will be extended by 30 m to 142 m overall and refitted. New equipment will include a 60-ton crane, a 1,600-ton powered carousel below the main working deck, a 250-ton A-frame and roller at the stern, deepwater flexible lay equipment, two additional retractable thrusters, and a dynamic positioning and power management system. The ship will then be able to transport and install 3,000 tons of flexible flowlines with up to eight reels on deck.
Enterprise Oil plc
announced test results of a second appraisal well in the Corrib gas discovery on Block 18/25 off western Ireland (OGJ, Oct. 19, 1998, p. 34). The 18/25-1 well was drilled to 3,741 m TVD into Triassic Sherwood sandstone by the Sedco 711 semisubmersible rig. The well flowed about 64 MMcfd of gas through a 11/2-in. choke with 1,653 psi flowing wellhead pressure. Enterprise said the flow rate was limited by the testing equipment. John McGoldrick, Enterprise's general manager Ireland, said, "We have successfully delineated the southern end of the reservoir. The results will require further evaluation but have already demonstrated enough reserves to begin development feasibility studies."
The Cheleken joint venture
of Dragon Oil plc, London, and Turkmen state firm Turkmenneft let contract for an undisclosed sum to Deutag U.K. Ltd., Aberdeen, for drilling in LAM field off Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea. The deal calls for the drilling of up to 36 wells in the Block II field in three phases. Initially, Deutag will refurbish a client-owned land rig in Great Yarmouth, U.K., and move it to the Caspian with a view to drilling three wells from the LAM 22 platform in 2000. If these wells are successful, another three wells will be drilled from LAM 22; then, results will be evaluated before commissioning a third phase to develop LAM field and nearby Zhdanov field fully with 30 additional wells.
Conoco (UK) Ltd.
started gas production from Bell field on U.K. North Sea Blocks 49/22 and 49/23. The field was developed with a single subsea wellhead connected by an 8-in. pipeline to the Callisto South field manifold less than 100 m away. Gas is sent to shore at Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire, via Conoco's Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering Systems pipeline. Production is about 110 MMcfd of gas. Bell field interest holders are: operator Conoco, 20%; Mobil North Sea Ltd., 50%; and Statoil UK Ltd., 30%.
Mobil North Sea Ltd.
started oil production from Buckland field on U.K. North Sea Block 9/18. Initial production was 16,000 b/d, but it is expected to increase to 30,000 b/d within a few weeks. The field was developed as a subsea satellite of Mobil's Beryl Alpha production platform 10.5 km away on Block 9/13. As much as 40 MMcfd of associated gas will be comingled with Beryl field gas and exported via the Mobil-operated Scottish Area Gas Evacuation pipeline to St. Fergus, Scotland.
Tankers
Gold Star Maritime Co.,
a subsidiary of Tesoro Petroleum Corp., San Antonio, entered into a charter for a 46,000-ton double-hull tanker with Hvide Marine Inc., Fort Lauderdale. The charter has a 3-year primary term starting in May 2000 and two 1-year options. The vessel will replace the Chesapeake Trader, which goes off charter to Tesoro in May 2000. Under the new charter's terms, Tesoro will receive one of the new Lightship-class tankers that entered service in October 1998. The new ship will primarily be used to transport crude to its Alaska refinery, said Tesoro. The company also has a second tanker currently under charter and is reviewing the need for a second vessel.
LNG
Bonny Gas Transport Ltd.,
a unit of Nigeria LNG Co. (NLNG), let contract to South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. for the construction of two 138,000-cu m Moss-type liquefied natural gas carriers. The vessels will be 288 m long, 48.2 m wide, and 26.5 m deep and have a design draft of 11.15 m. Steam turbines will propel both vessels, which are fitted with four independent spherical tanks each. The carriers will transport LNG to Europe from the third-train expansion of the NLNG project at Bonny Island, Nigeria (OGJ, Mar. 22, 1999, p. 45). Delivery of the carriers is slated for August and September 2002.
U.S. Department of Energy
plans to co-fund the construction and testing of a prototype device that uses thermo- acoustic technology to liquefy natural gas. It said the technology could lead to portable LNG conversion units that could be located in remote gas fields, in oil fields without gas pipeline connections, on offshore platforms, and at other locations problematic for gas development.
Companies
Global Industries Ltd.,
Houston, will acquire all the outstanding stock of ETPM SA from Groupe GTM, the construction unit of France's Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, for $265 million cash. As part of the deal, Global also will sign a lease-purchase agreement for Groupe GTM's interest in two vessels in January 2002 for $25 million. Global also will assume about $2 million of ETPM's debt. With a market capitalization of about $1.3 billion, the newly formed company will become the largest offshore construction company, said Global.
Global Industries
unit Global Offshore Mexico SRL de CV will acquire the offshore construction unit of its Mexican joint venture CCC Fabricaciones y Construcciones SA de CV for $72 million. Additionally, Global Industries sold its own interest in CCC to Grupo Consorcio de Fabricaciones y Construcciones SA de CV, the other primary shareholder in CCC. The marine construction business is in the Bay of Campeche and other areas off Mexico and includes four marine vessels and the marine support base at Cuidad del Carmen, Mexico.
Ingersoll-Rand Co.
is offering to sell its interests in two joint ventures-Dresser-Rand and Ingersoll-Dresser Pump-to Dresser Industries Inc., a unit of Halliburton Co., Dallas. Dresser holds 51% of Dresser-Rand (DR) and 49% of Ingersoll-Dresser Pump (IDP), while Ingersoll-Rand holds 49% of DR and 51% of IDP. By Oct. 5, Dresser will decide either to sell its interest in DR to Ingersoll-Rand or purchase Ingersoll-Rand's interests in DR. Also, Dresser will choose either to acquire Ingersoll-Rand's interest in IDP or sell to Ingersoll-Rand its interests in IDP.
Novus Petroleum Ltd.,
Sydney, acquired the remaining Australian assets of Gulf Resources (Australia) NL-a unit of Gulf Canada Resources Ltd., Calgary-for $118 million (Canadian). Gulf Resources sold its 4.75% interest in Cooper basin properties with production of about 6,000 boe/d. Gulf earlier sold its Australian offshore properties to Newfield Exploration Co., Houston, for an undisclosed sum. Gulf acquired the Australian properties in 1997 in a $1.5 billion takeover of Clyde Petroleum plc. Gulf has taken a $103 million writedown on sale of its Australian assets.
Power
Westcoast Power Inc.,
a unit of Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, B.C., began construction of its $180 million Bayside power generation project at Saint John, N.B. The project will convert one of the four units of the Courtenay Bay generating station, owned by New Brunswick Power Corp., into a 265-MW, natural gas-fired combined-cycle unit. Westcoast plans to firm up certain long-term contracts to deliver about 43.5 MMcfd of natural gas via a 110-km lateral from the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline by the fall of 2000.
Petrochemicals
Enterprise Products Partners LP,
Houston, and Exxon Chemical Co. agreed to jointly own and operate a new propylene concentration unit currently under construction. The unit, in Port Allen, La., will be owned by Baton Rouge Propylene Concentrator LLC, a joint venture of an Exxon Chemical affiliate and Enterprise; Enterprise will operate the unit. The 680,00 metric ton/year capacity unit will upgrade refinery-grade propylene produced by Exxon and others into chemical-grade propylene. Completion of the project is slated for mid-2000. The Exxon Chemical affiliate will own 70% interest in the production capacity of the unit and Enterprise 30%.