INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

Jan. 1, 1990
WESTCOAST ENERGY INC., Vancouver, B.C., agreed to buy the utilities and propane business of Inter-City Gas Corp. (ICG), Winnipeg, Man., for $720 million. Under a related agreement, Westcoast will sell the propane operation to Petro-Canada for $221 million. Westcoast and Petro-Canada will assume $112 million in ICG debt. In addition, new Westcoast subsidiaries will assume liabilities of the new businesses, totaling $485 million at the end of September 1989. Sale is to be complete this spring.

ACQUISITIONS

WESTCOAST ENERGY INC., Vancouver, B.C., agreed to buy the utilities and propane business of Inter-City Gas Corp. (ICG), Winnipeg, Man., for $720 million. Under a related agreement, Westcoast will sell the propane operation to Petro-Canada for $221 million. Westcoast and Petro-Canada will assume $112 million in ICG debt. In addition, new Westcoast subsidiaries will assume liabilities of the new businesses, totaling $485 million at the end of September 1989. Sale is to be complete this spring.

SUMMIT RESOURCES LTD., Calgary, will spend $15.2 million to buy Alberta oil and gas leases from Amoco Canada Ltd. and Encor Energy Corp. Involved are an average 60% working interest in land in Central Alberta, including reserves totaling 18.6 bcf of gas and 200,000 bbl of oil and gas liquids, a gas processing plant, and five gas wells and acreage in southern Alberta.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

SHELL GABON drilled Africa's first horizontal oil well 230 km south of Port-Gentil, Xinhua News Agency reported. Productive capacity is estimated at 6,000 b/d.

CONOCO (U.K.) LTD. plans further drilling this year on U.K. North Sea Block 15/30, where it exercised an option to preempt BP Exploration's planned sale of a one third interest to Oryx Energy Co. (OGJ, Dec. 18, 1989, p. 20). The preemption gives field operator Conoco two-thirds interest in one of the largest undeveloped gas/condensate fields off the U.K. Conoco plans to drill an appraisal of the gas/condensate reservoir and a wildcat on a separate prospect.

SYRIAN PETROLEUM CO. let contract to Fluor Daniel Ltd., London, for engineering design and construction services on crude oil production, processing, and pipeline facilities for El Izbeh field in Syria.

PETROFINA SA acquired 30 blocks in the U.K. North Sea from Elf U.K. Ltd., including small shares in Audrey and Hewett gas fields.

PROCESSING

PETROQUIMICA BAHIA BLANCA SAIC let a lump sum turnkey contract to Lummus Crest, Italy's CTIP, and Techint of Italy and Argentina for a 200,000 metric ton/year ethylene plant at its petrochemical complex in Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Total installed cost of the project, scheduled for completion by yearend 1992, is about $241 million. The project calls for an olefins unit fed by a mix of gas and naphtha, a pyrolysis gasoline unit, a C4 hydrogenation unit, and other facilities.

SASKATCHEWAN authorized spending of as much as $75 million to fix technical problems at the $700 million Coop heavy oil upgrader in Regina, Sask. The plant is jointly owned by the provincial government and Federated Cooperatives through NewGrade Energy Ltd. Completed in 1988, the plant has been troubled by mechanical problems and was damaged by a fire in the main upgrading unit last June. The total amount authorized probably will not be needed. The plant is expected to be running normally this month.

U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK will guarantee a $61.3 million loan for construction of a state owned caustic soda plant at Venezuela's El Tablazo petrochemical complex in Zulia state. M.W. Kellogg Co. and Venezuela's Vepica are providing engineering services and Oxytech System Inc. process technology and other services.

EXPLORATION

Yemen Co. for Investment in Oil & Mineral Resources, a joint company North Yemen and South Yemen established to oversee petroleum work in a 2,200 sq km border zone between the two countries, awarded exploration rights in the area to a group made up of the U.S.S.R.'s Technoexport, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., Total-CFP, and Exxon Corp.-Hunt Oil Co. Work is to begin this month.

VENEZUELA'S MARAVEN SA spudded its 1-X Mero wildcat, projected to 12,500 ft, off Southwest Aruba under an exploration contract with National Oil Co. of Aruba.

TEXACO CANADA PETROLEUM INC. signed a joint venture exploration agreement with Encor Inc. for a 1990 drilling program. Tex-Can will spend at least $31.5 million to earn a 45% interest in Encor acreage, and Encor will spend $3.5 million on exploration. Encor will be operator of the program, renewable in 1991 and 1992.

NANHUANGHAI (South Yellow Sea) Petroleum Corp., Shanghai, completed processing and interpretation of seismic data from a survey of Taixi basin in the Taiwan Straits off China. It said results show good hydrocarbon potential.

RESEARCH

SPAIN'S energy industry will invest $860 million the next 2 years in technological research and development projects to improve production, transmission, and distribution in electrical power generation, refining, coal, and natural gas. The government will provide about 45% of the funds.

COMPANIES

LAGOVEN SA plans capital spending of $4.1 billion through 1995. Lagoven, biggest operating unit of state owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, plans to hike oil production capacity in eastern Venezuela by 300,000 b/d to 1.35 million b/d by 1995. Other projects under consideration are a gas processing plant related to field development off Paria Peninsula, a 300 MMcfd gas processing plant on Lake Maracaibo, a delayed coker and desulfurization unit at its Amuay refinery, and other refining investments.

PLACER DOME INC., Vancouver, B.C., will sell its oil and gas assets, worth a book value of about $450 million, in western Canada and onshore and off Louisiana and Texas. The gold producer owns CEGO Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, and Prairie Producing Co., Houston. Proved reserves are estimated at 8.7 million bbl of crude oil and natural gas liquids and 200 bcf of gas in Canada, along with 12.1 million bbl of crude and NGL and 95 bcf of gas in the U. S.

POCO PETROLEUMS LTD., Calgary, plans to spend $55 million on capital projects and drill about 135 wells this year. It earmarked $30 million for exploration and $25 million for development. About 40% of the funds will be allocated to higher risk, higher reward exploration areas in Alberta and British Columbia.

ALTERNATE FUELS

INDONESIA is pressing home use of solar photovoltaics in remote areas of the country to back out use of kerosine and firewood. President Soeharto last month commissioned a solar photovoltaic home system pilot program in Sukatani, West Java. Government subsidies of kerosine total about $240 million/year. Indonesia consumes 7.2 million I./year of kerosine.

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