Pakistan plans to begin the process of selling Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd. in March and to complete the deal by September. Roadshows would be held before inviting expressions of interest.
The International Finance Corp. will provide $30 million of an estimated cost of $283 million to LASMO Oil Pakistan Ltd., an affiliate of ENI SPA of Italy, to develop Pakistan's Bhit natural gas field in Kirthar Block, about 150 km north of Karach. LOPL holds 40% and operates the block.
GFB Acquisition-I LP, a joint venture of Midland, Tex.-based TransRepublic Resources Ltd. and GE Capital Oil & Gas, acquired oil and gas properties in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas from TransRepublic Resources for $40 million. Most of the properties are in East Texas.
Framatome ANP Inc., a global nuclear supplier, agreed to acquire Duke Energy Corp.'s engineering and technical services unit Duke Engineering & Services. The deal is subject to antitrust scrutiny but is likely to close in the second quarter. It does not include the power delivery services component or leadership of the US Department of Energy mixed oxide fuel project.
Sibneft floated a $250 million eurobond. It claims to be the first Russian company to issue a eurobond. The 5-year bond carries a coupon of 11.5% and was placed at par value. The transaction was arranged by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, and proceeds will be used to support Sibneft's capital expenditure program.
Yukos Oil Co., Moscow, denied that shares in subsidiary OAO Tomskneft had been pledged. "At the present time, there are no encumbrances whatsoever with respect to the shares of OAO 'Tomskneft' or other principal subsidiaries of OAO 'Eastern Oil Company'," it said.
SOCO International PLC acquired an additional 10% of SOCO Vietnam Ltd., bringing its holding to 80%. SOCO Vietnam's only assets are its 50% interest in Block 9-2 and 30% interest in Block 16-1, both in the Cuu Long Basin off Viet Nam.
Indian state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. is interested in acquiring 5% of the Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co.'s (RasGas) project to transport Qatari gas to India, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' news agency. RasGas signed a 25-year sales agreement with Petronet LNG Ltd. to supply 7.5 million tonnes/year of LNG.
Noble Drilling Corp. authorized the repurchase of another 10 million shares (7.6% of outstanding shares) under its existing stock repurchase program.
Denbury Resources Inc., Plano, Tex., said its total proved reserves were 76.5 million bbl of oil and 198.3 bcf of gas, according to a yearend reserve report prepared by DeGolyer & MacNaughton.
Varco International Inc., Houston, a manufacturer and supplier of drilling products and services, declared net income for the fourth quarter 2001 of $27.2 million on revenue of $362.2 million. For the fourth quarter 2000, Varco declared $14.1 million in net income on revenue of $245.6 million.
Dynegy Global Liquids Inc. and Bahrain National Gas Co. formed a 50:50 joint venture to pursue natural gas liquids-related opportunities throughout the Middle East and North Africa. The companies will invest in gas processing, extraction, conditioning, storage, transportation, and terminal facilities for the manufacture and delivery of natural gas liquids worldwide. The new company will be headquartered in Bahrain.
Torch Rig Services Co. said it is acquiring Grayson Services, ending a 1-year partnership between the companies. TRS provides energy producers and drilling contractors with cementing services, pipe recovery services, electric wireline services, and rental and maintenance of pumps, power swivels, and tanks. Grayson is a provider of heavy equipment for well service, plugging, and abandonment operations.
Geoservices SA finalized an agreement to transfer China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s Petrotech Reservoir Services branch to Geoservices' joint venture company China France Bohai Geoservices Co. The agreement was originally signed in July last year and recently received Chinese government approval.
Canadian company Aspen Group Resources Corp. acquired 94.3% of the shares of Endeavour Resources Inc., Calgary, and plans to acquire the remainder under Alberta's compulsory acquisition rules. The combined current production is more than 2,400 boe/d.
Nigeria Agip Oil Co. awarded Saipem SPA a $72 million contract for engineering, procurement, and construction for the upgrade of an existing gas plant in Obiafu-Obrikom and a new flow station facility in adjacent areas in Irri, both in Nigeria. The contract is expected to last 17 months. Both Saipem and Nigeria Agip are affiliated with Italian company ENI SPA.
PetroChina Co. Ltd. continued to cut jobs in 2001, as the company moved to streamline its operations and cut operation costs. It laid off 16,600 workers, following a bigger cut in 2000 of 38,400. By the end of June last year, PetroChina had a work force of 430,226.
American International Petroleum Corp., New York, will extend $9.3 million in convertible debentures due in April, 2002, to Feb. 1, 2007.
Powder River Basin Gas Corp. acquired producing wells and leasehold interests in Wyoming's Power River basin from independent producer Conquest Energy Services LLC. The price was an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. The deal includes 26 completed wells and another 64 well locations. Conquest will continue drilling and maintenance of the wells on contract.
The US imposed nearly $1 million in fines against a Houston company, BS&B Process Systems Inc., and its London affiliate Black, Sivalls, & Bryson (UK) Ltd., for illegally exporting oil field processing equipment to Iran. The Department of Commerce fined BS&B Process Systems $86,000 and denied it export privileges for 3 years, which were suspended. Its London affiliate was fined $32,000 and its export privileges denied for 3 years, 2 of which were suspended. The remaining fines related to criminal penalties.
Offshore contractor Stolt Offshore SA plans to repurchase 6.1 million shares from Vinci, which acquired the shares as partial compensation in the ETPM acquisition in December 1999.
Australian company Novus Petroleum Ltd. farmed out half of its 47.5% working interest in the Bolan Petroleum Concession, Pakistan, to Mari Gas Company Ltd., Islamabad. The deal is subject to preemptive rights of the other joint venture parties and to government approvals. Mari Gas will pay a contribution to historical costs plus their share of the exploration well currently drilling, Zarghun North-1. Premier Exploration Pakistan Ltd. operates the concession.
Sibneft, Moscow, selected Halliburton International Inc. to provide a range of oil field services to its upstream division. Halliburton intends to begin work at Sibneft's fields in spring 2002. The company will initially provide directional drilling, sidetracking, logging and cementing services. The two companies will establish a joint engineering team to plan new projects.
