Bitech Petroleum Corp., Toronto, has completed the acquisition of Vanguard Oil Corp. Vanguard's assets in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Colombia will complement Bitech's oil licenses in the Komi Republic of Russia, said Bitech.
The government of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, intends to file a claim against the owners and insurers of the Buque Tanquero Jessica tanker, which spilled as much as 240,000 gal of oil in the archipelago. Air & Sea Insurance Corp. is in Miami, and the claim is being filed there.
Talisman Energy Inc., Calgary, said 57.2 million common shares, or 98% of outstanding shares, of Petromet Resources Ltd., Calgary, were tendered for an $806 million (Can.) acquisition offer. Talisman will acquire the remainder of Petromet's shares under compulsory acquisition provisions.
Lundin Oil AB, Stockholm, said that it has had discussions with other oil-sector companies regarding a possible corporate acquisition and spinoff of certain assets. Matters are still in the discussion stage, said Lundin.
The US Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act for Williams, Tulsa, to acquire Barrett Resources Corp., Denver, Colo. This satisfies one of the conditions for the acquisition (OGJ Online, May 7, 2001).
Canadian Abraxas Petroleum Ltd., a unit of Abraxas Petroleum Corp., San Antonio, Tex., has completed the sale of certain noncore assets in Alberta, Can., to an unnamed buyer for $15.2 million (Can.).
Petroplus International NV, Amsterdam, has agreed in principle to acquire Frisol Group, Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands, for 20 million euros. Petroplus is a midstream oil company. Frisol is a supplier and trader of fuel oil, gas oil, blending components and chemicals. Petroplus expects the transaction to be completed by July 1.
American Electric Power Co., Columbus, Ohio, has completed the purchase of Houston Pipe Line Co. from Enron Corp. The deal was announced earlier this year (OGJ Online, Jan. 11, 2001).
French gas major Gaz de France SA will invest 1.2 billion rupees ($25.8 million) to pick up a 10% equity stake in Indian company Petronet LNG. The deal was originally announced last year (OGJ Online, Nov. 23, 2000). RasGas of Qatar has also been offered a 10% stake in the Indian government-owned natural gas receiving company.
QNI Pty. Ltd., owner of a nickel and cobalt refinery in Townsville, Queensland, has signed a letter of intent for a 20-year agreement to buy gas from the Woodside Energy Ltd.-operated Sunrise Gas Project in the Timor Sea. The proposed contract would begin supply at 12.5 PJ/year and increase to 19 PJ/year within the first 2 years.
Pure Resources Inc., Midland, Tex., has completed the $268 million acquisition of Hallwood Energy Corp., Denver, Colo. The deal was announced two months ago (OGJ Online, Apr. 2, 2001). Pure also said it plans to raise $300 million through a private placement of senior unsecured notes due 2011.
Gresham Resources Inc., Calgary, has closed the $9.5 million (Can.) acquisition of production in the Ft. Assiniboine/Doris Creek region of central Alberta from an unnamed seller.
Plurigas SPA, a joint venture of AEM Milano (40%), Amga Genova (30%) and Asm Brescia (30%), agreed to buy 3 billion cu m/year of gas for 10 years from Snam, a unit of ENI SPA. Plurigas will pay 1 trillion lire ($441 million)/year.
Patina Oil & Gas Corp., Denver, Colo., has adopted a stockholder rights plan and bylaw amendments designed to improve the ability of the Board to protect the interests of stockholders in the event of a proposed takeover.
A unit of Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, BC, has sold several gas processing plants and related facilities in northeastern BC for $201 million (Can.). Westcoast Gas Services Inc. is selling the Jedney, Jedney Expansion and Highway plants and related gathering facilities north of Fort St. John, BC, to JJH Equipment Trust. Westcoast has entered into an operating lease agreement for the plants and facilities.
Lakehead Pipe Line Partners LP has completed the acquisition of North Dakota pipeline system of Enbridge Inc. for $33 million in cash (OGJ Online, Mar. 9, 2001).
Plains All American Pipeline LP has sold 3.75 million common units at $26.05/unit. The proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
Marathon Oil Co. has invested $600,000 and contributed intellectual property in exchange for a minority equity interest in In-Depth Systems Inc. In-Depth uses radio frequency identification tags to increase well completion productivity and reduce costs.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) will take over Sinopec Star Co. Ltd. in August in order to boost its upstream strength. It has contemplated the move for some time (OGJ Online, Apr. 17, 2001). Sinopec Star, a unit of Sinopec's parent company China Petrochemical Corp., will sell the bulk of the upstream assets to Sinopec, while keeping its oil-related service businesses and engineering companies.
Hilton Petroleum Ltd., Vancouver, has arranged a nonbrokered private placement worth $6.4 million (Can.). The arrangement is subject to regulatory approval. These funds will be used to help finance the company's portion of exploration programs in California and for general working capital.
