Table of Contents

OGJ Newsletter

• OGJ Newsletter
  OPEC countries are keeping an eye trained closely on oil markets, awaiting signs of a stable recovery.

Journally Speaking

• Pemex defines 'reserves'
  We would like to think that statistics have been one of Oil & Gas Journal's strong points for a number of years.

Services/Suppliers

• MOVES AND PROMOTIONS
  IHRDC, Boston, Mass., has named Robert W. Taylor director for business development.
• TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS
  Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. (Sundowner) has merged with and into its wholly owned subsidiary Nabors Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NODI) and changed its name to Nabors Offshore Corp. (Nabors Offshore). As a consequence of the merger, Nabors Offshore, as the surviving entity, has, by operation of law, succeeded to all rights, obligations and liabilities of Sundowner.

• Sanctions and isolationism
  Republicans running the US Senate have a ready counterpunch for the scolding they received from President Bill Clinton on Oct. 14 over their rejection of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Whether they'll seize the opportunity is a large and telling question. A possibility that should trouble the oil and gas industry is that they might, in fact, be guilty as charged.

• Exxon-Mobil merger wins approval in EU, awaits US decision
  Exxon Corp. Chairman Lee Raymond, left, and Mobil Corp. Chairman Lucio Noto testified last spring at a US House of Representatives hearing about their planned merger.
• Consumer groups voice opposition to Exxon-Mobil merger
  Although the merger of Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. is widely expected to clear the final hurdle of US Federal Trade Commission approval at any time, not all observers view the transaction as beneficial.
• OPEC compliance slip triggers price slide
  After months of rising oil prices, a sudden fall in early October took the industry by surprise, but behind the slide was a rise in production both inside and outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
• Watching the World
  Nigerian milestone
  A 122,000 cu m cargo of LNG being transported to France from Nigeria represents a major milestone, given the troubled history of Nigeria's petroleum industry (see story, p. 30).
• Oil-prospective Spratlys still a flashpoint
  The South China Sea's Spratly Islands continue to be a potential flash point as China persists in following a long-term strategy of gradually extending its control over the entire South China Sea.
• INDUSTRY BRIEFS
  Repsol-YPF SA disclosed a large oil and gas find on Caipipendi Block in southern Bolivia.

• Watching Government
  Royalty standoff
  US Minerals Management Service Director Walt Rosenbusch faces an oil royalty rule controversy that, in many ways, is beyond his control.
• Key Aussie offshore fields to begin producing
  Australia's BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and its partners are set to begin production of about 180,000 b/d of oil from two developments in the Timor Sea off Australia by yearend.
• Casing-conveyed perforating guns fired in Canada
  Marathon Canada Ltd. has recently used casing-conveyed perforating guns to complete a gas well, Well 14-1-28-18, in the Drumheller field of central Alberta.

• Novus secures Omani exploration license
  Novus Australia Energy Co. Pty. Ltd., Sydney, and partners were awarded an exploration license for Block 17 in Oman, which covers 3,200 sq km of onshore and offshore territory.
• Vanco gets two deepwater blocks off Africa
  Houston independent Vanco Energy Co. is continuing to expand its deepwater acreage off Africa with the recent acquisition of two license areas.

• Composite drill pipe research planned
  A research project is planned to develop and field-test a composite drill pipe that will transmit drilling data from the bottom of the well bore to operators on the surface.
• Flexible manufacturing provides just-in-time, custom-made drill bits
  Flexible manufacturing facilities, enabled by computer-assisted drafting and manufacturing (CAD, CAM) technologies, can now deliver custom-designed polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits within 4-5 days, allowing operators to improve drilling performance in successive well activities.

• Gaz de France to take first Nigeria LNG
  The first cargo of LNG from Nigeria LNG Ltd.'s Bonny Island liquefaction plant arrived at Gaz de France's Montoir de Bretagne terminal on Oct. 19.

• BP Amoco details petrochem sector expansion plans
  BP Amoco PLC announced the signing in London on Oct. 20 with China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) of a framework agreement to undertake a joint feasibility study for a world-scale ethylene cracker and derivatives complex in Shanghai.
• Record exchanger installed in Saudi Arabian olefins project
  One of the largest heat exchangers of its type has been installed for Arabian Petrochemical Co., Petrokemya, by Altec International LP (now Chart Heat Exchangers), La Crosse, Wis.

• Mexico to tender two gas distribution areas
  Mexico's Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) continues expanding the country's natural gas distribution system as it has made a call for technical bids for one permit area, while starting the process to award another.
• Coastal plans natural gas line supplying Florida
  Coastal Corp., Houston, has applied to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build and operate a 1.1 bcf/day gas pipeline serving the growing Florida market.

• FCC revamp improves operations at Australian refinery
  The 1998 revamp of the No. 2 fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) in the Caltex Refineries (NSW) Pty. Ltd. refinery at Kurnell, Australia, corrected problems that constrained the unit's operating flexibility.