Courts
US Supreme Court
accepted an appeal by Mobil Corp. and Marathon Oil Co. that claims the federal government owes the two firms $156 million because they have not been allowed to drill leases off North Carolina. The accepted appeal follows the reversal of a US Claims Court decision awarding the firms $78 million each (OGJ, Oct. 26, 1998, p. 45). The companies' lawsuit to recover their investments in the tracts has taken 7 years.
Gas processing
Syntroleum Sweetwater Operations Ltd.,
a unit of Syntroleum Corp., Tulsa, and RWE group member Klockner Industrie-Anlagen (INA), Duisburg, Germany, signed a project development agreement for the first commercial-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant based on Syntroleum's proprietary GTL technology. The first phase of the agreement calls for a $4 million design and engineering effort, to begin Nov. 29, of a 10,000 b/d plant that could be built either in Australia or in Trinidad and Tobago. Syntroleum expects the GTL portion of the plant will cost $300 million and a specialty products refining section and associated product storage facilities will add another $100 million.
Exploration
TotalFina SA
acquired a 15% interest from Royal Dutch/ Shell in two deepwater exploration blocks off Congo known as Mer Profonde Sud (MPS) and Mer Profonde Nord (MPN). MPS and MPN cover a respective 3,500 and 3,800 sq km and lie in 1,000-2,000 m of water. The blocks are in the Lower Congo basin 120 km offshore. Both 2D and 3D seismic surveys have been completed on MPS, and two exploration wells are slated for first-half 2000. On MPN, 3D seismic was conducted, and the partners plan to drill a well by yearend 2000. TotalFina's MPS partners are: operator Elf Aquitaine SA, 40%; Exxon Corp., 30%; and Shell, 15%. MPN partners include: operator Exxon, 35%; ENI's Agip SPA, 20%; Elf, 15%; and Shell, 15%.
Unocal Corp. unit
Unocal Indonesia Co. found oil and gas on the deepwater Bangka and Aton prospects in the Rapak production-sharing contract area off Indonesia. The Bangka 2 well, about 9 miles north of West Seno field, was drilled to 9,752 ft TD in 3,191 ft of water and cut 367 net ft of liquids-rich gas pay in two Upper Miocene zones. The Bangka 4 step-out was drilled downstructure to 11,656 ft TD and cut 38 ft of net oil and gas pay. Bangka 5 is now being drilled. Aton 3 well, 5 miles southeast of Bangka 2, was drilled to 8,465 ft TD in 3,826 ft of water and cut 255 ft of high-quality reservoir and 80 ft of oil and gas pay. The Aton 1 step-out, drilled to 12,465 ft TD, cut 59 ft of net oil and gas pay in two zones.
Conoco Indonesia Inc.
made another natural gas discovery on Block B in the South Natuna Sea off Indonesia (OGJ, Nov. 1, 1999, p. 46). The Keong 1 well, drilled to 6,300 ft, cut 295 ft of pay. No production tests were conducted, says Conoco, due to the "excellent quality of the reservoir rock." The well, 3 miles southeast of Tembang and Buntal gas fields, was cased and temporarily abandoned. Conoco says the new strike's estimated reserves exceed those committed to the proposed 300-mile gas pipeline from Block B to Singapore and are not covered by the existing sales agreement linked to that pipeline (OGJ, Aug. 9, 1999, p. 23).
Drilling-production
Berkley Petroleum Corp.,
Calgary, on Nov. 15 reported an uncontrolled gas flow and subsequent blowout from its Wild River 2-21-56-23 W5 well. The well, about 60 km northeast of Hinton, Alta., is discharging sweet gas, says Berkley. At presstime, well control specialists were headed to the isolated northwestern Alberta area to assess the situation.
Delmar Systems Inc.,
Broussard, La., and Shell Deepwater Development Inc. claimed a world mooring-depth record with the Transocean Marianas semisubmersible drilling rig, which was moored in 6,940 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 522 in the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel used a suction-anchor system and Delmar's single-vessel installation procedure. "Using this system to moor the [vessel] in 6,940 ft of water, Shell is convinced a fourth or fifth generation semisubmersible can be moored successfully in more than 7,000 ft [of water]," said Billy Bergeron, Delmar's suction-anchor production manager.
Sonamer Angola Ltd.,
a 51%-owned subsidiary of Pride International Inc., Houston, reported that the ultradeepwater drillship Pride Africa sustained damage to some of its drilling equipment while trying to recover the vessel's blowout prevention equipment, which sank to the seafloor in 5,400 ft of water. Among the equipment damaged was its top drive drilling system and drilling line. The hull sustained no damage, said Pride, and an investigation is under way to determine any further damage. The drillship was to begin drilling for Elf Aquitaine SA off Angola (OGJ, Oct. 18, 1999, p. 38).
Elf Petroland BV
began natural gas production from the L4PN satellite platform off the Netherlands, under the first phase of joint development of several gas fields just north of Block L4a in the Dutch North Sea. The field's first well, L1a-A, began production earlier this month and has potential of 800,000 cu m/day. Production has been sold to Gasunie and will be moved via existing Elf Petroland installations and to shore through Noordgastransport Pipeline. L4PN interest holders are: operator Elf, 36.1%; Energie Beheer Nederland BV, 40%; Total Oil & Gas Nederland BV, 20.9%; and Coparex Netherlands BV, 3%.
Refining
Indian Oil Co. Ltd.
chalked out a 25 billion rupee revamp of its Mathura refinery at Uttar Pradesh in an effort to improve the quality of its refined products. The revamp is designed to reduce the benzene content of some fuels to less than 1 vol % and reduce sulfur content of certain fuels to 50 ppm. IOC also expects to further reduce olefins content to 14 vol % and aromatics content to 35 vol %. The company is considering installing a second reactor in an existing diesel hydrodesulfurization unit to maximize production of ultra-low (0.05 wt %) sulfur diesel.
Pipelines
US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
approved Tejas Gas Corp.'s plans to lay a $40 million, 97-mile natural gas pipeline from Kleberg Co., Tex., to Pemex Gas Co.'s system at Arguelles, Mexico. Tejas unit Coral Mexico Pipeline LLC will operate the 300 MMcfd line.
Caspian Pipeline Consortium
(CPC) let a turnkey contract to Neles Automation's Sage Systems division for the monitoring, control, and leak detection of the CPC scada-an integrated scada and pipeline simulation system for the Caspian crude oil pipeline system in Russia and Kazakhstan. CPC, owner and operator of the line, has an existing 754-km pipeline from Tengiz, Kazakhstan, to Komsomolsk, Russia. A proposed 1,500-km pipeline will extend from Komsomolsk to a new marine terminal being built northwest of Novorossiisk and will serve as the primary export facility for Kazakhstan oil to the west. The project includes installation and commissioning of five initial pump-station control stations and 100 mainline block valve PLCs.
Mid-American Pipeline,
a unit of Williams, Tulsa, completed construction of a 412-mile, 45,000 b/d NGL pipeline from northeastern Utah to near Bloomfield, NM. Feeding liquids into the line are about 20 natural gas processing plants in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado; deliveries are made to Mexico, the US Midwest, and the Texas Gulf Coast. The new segment, which is the system's second major expansion in the last 5 years, uses 10, 12, and 16-in. pipe.
Questar Pipeline Co.,
Salt Lake City, signed an agreement with Coastal Corp. unit Colorado Interstate Gas Co. to jointly build and own a 75-mile natural gas pipeline from eastern Utah to a proposed link with Kern River Gas Transmission Co. near Elberta, Utah. The 24-in., 2.5 MMcfd Questar M.L. 40/41 Loop, which will extend parallel to Questar's existing system, is expected to be in service by the 2001-02 winter heating season, says Questar. The line will help to meet incremental demand to the Wasatch Front market area.
Petrochemicals
BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd.
postponed construction of the proposed $800 million (Aus.) fertilizer plant at Geelong, 100 km west of Melbourne, and delayed the proposed pipeline from Minerva gas field in the offshore Otway basin (OGJ, Mar. 1, 1999, p. 34). The line is to be constructed from landfall at Port Campbell. The delay is for commercial reasons, says BHP, and the firm is in discussions with its joint venture partner, fertilizer producer Incitec Pty. Ltd., about outstanding but unnamed commercial matters.
Companies
PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd.,
Calgary, is to acquire BP Amoco PLC's interests in Scott (13.5%) and Telford (20.2%) oil fields in the UK North Sea for $270 million (Can.). PanCanadian also acquired a 26% interest in Block 15/22, which surrounds the two producing fields, about 118 miles northeast of Aberdeen. In a separate transaction, PanCanadian is swapping interests with BP Amoco in several other blocks: In exchange for a 13.74% interest in Block 22/19a, the firm will receive: 100% interest in Blocks 15/23b and 15/23c; 42.22% of Block 29/12a; 13.22% of Block 22/27a; and 25% of Blocks 19/5 and 20/1.
Tuboscope Inc.,
Houston, and Newpark Resources Inc., Metairie, La., agreed to form an operating alliance in certain core market areas rather than proceed with a proposed merger agreement (OGJ, July 5, 1999, p. 39). "The trough of the oil field service market and the uncertainty of the capital markets were making it difficult to obtain the type of credit facility we believed was necessary for the combined companies," said Tuboscope Pres. and CEO John F. Lauletta. The firms intend to work closely together: Tuboscope agreed to acquire Newpark's solids control and processing business assets and Newpark recently began providing oil field waste disposal services for Tuboscope.
Ferrellgas Inc.,
Liberty, Mo., will acquire Thermogas Co. from Williams Energy Services, a unit of Tulsa-based Williams for $432.5 million. Ferrellgas will pay $257.5 million cash and $175 million through its senior common units, which Williams intends to assign in a private transaction to a unit of Banc of America Securities in exchange for the same amount in cash. The deal is expected to close by yearend.
Australian Gas Light Co.
entered the South Australian electricity market by negotiating a gas supply and electric power retailing deal with National Power's Pelican Point power station in the western suburbs of Adelaide. AGL will supply at least 46.5 MMcfd of natural gas to the new Pelican Point plant for as much as 5 years and will purchase electricity from the plant to sell in the South Australian market. The contract will enable AGL to capture about 25% of the South Australian corporate and commercial electricity market. The 500-Mw, $400 million (Aus.) Pelican Point plant is to be commissioned early in 2001.
Tankers
Conoco
placed into service another double-hulled crude oil tanker-the company's seventh built since 1990. Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries built the 105,000-dwt Sentinel at Koje Island, South Korea; it has a crude oil capacity of 727,100 bbl. Conoco will use the tanker to transport oil from Venezuela and Mexico to its Lake Charles, La., refinery.
LNG
Australia LNG Pty. Ltd.
(ALNG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Tuntex Gas Corp., Taiwan, for the supply of up to 4 million tonnes/year of LNG starting in 2003. The MOU calls for ALNG-a six-company joint venture led by Woodside Petroleum Ltd.-to complete commercial and technical agreements for the delivery, regasification, and sale of LNG to Taiwanese power stations and industrial customers. ALNG hopes to secure further LNG sales to Tuntex, as the Taiwan company bids to supply gas to a new power station in northern Taiwan.
Algeria
shipped its first delivery of 25,000 cu m of LNG to Greece from the port of Skikda. The shipment was the first under a 21-year agreement between Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach and Greece's state-owned Depa. The accord calls for Algeria to deliver 700 million cu m/year of LNG to Greece, making it the seventh purchaser of Algerian LNG following France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the US, and Turkey. Algeria intends to increase its LNG exports to 100 billion cu m/year from the current 60 billion cu m/year.
Power
TECO Energy Services
let a $100 million contract to Kvaerner Energy AS, Oslo, to build a 315-Mw, gas-turbine power plant in Accomack County, Va. The plant will be brought into operation in two stages: 135 Mw of capacity is due to be put into service by June 2000, with the remaining capacity to be operational by June 2001. Engineering, procurement, and fabrication will take place in Oslo.
Southern Co.,
Atlanta, plans to build a 500-Mw, combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant in Lee County, Ala., on the Alabama-Georgia state line. The plant, to be owned and operated by Southern Co. electric utility unit Georgia Power, will be built near Georgia Power's Goat Rock hydro plant on the Chattahoochee River. Southern expects commercial start-up by early 2002 and will sell the plant's power to the wholesale market.
