U.S. BRIEFS

PROCESSING

EL PASO REFINERY LP is using $127 million in proceeds from a public offering of a 43% limited partnership interest to expand capacity of its 26,000 b/d El Paso refinery to 55,000 b/d. Construction is to start in second quarter 1990.

MOBIL EXPLORATION & PRODUCING U.S. INC. let contract to Randall Corp., Houston, to serve as general contractor to build a 250 MMcfd gas treating plant adjacent to its existing 80 MMcfd Coden, Ala., plant. Construction will begin during this year's second quarter. The plant is part of Mobil's development of Jurassic Norphlet gas reserves under Mobile Blocks 822, 823, 824, 778, and 779 (OGJ, Oct. 9, 1989, p. 24).

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP of Energy Service Co. Inc., Houston, Goldman Sachs Group LP, Natural Gas Partners LP, and Rainwater Inc. purchased additional debt and equity securities of Penrod Drilling Corp. for $44.4 million. That brings the partnership's stake to 27.1% of the debt and 13.6% of the equity of Penrod. Penrod issued the debt to bank creditors under a 1988 reorganization plan.

BERRY PETROLEUM CO., Taft, Calif., agreed to lease property in Midway-Sunset field on which it plans to build a crude oil blending station by mid-1990.

NABORS INDUSTRIES INC. completed acquisition of Loffland Bros. Co. for $58 million. Nabors expects Alaska and the North Sea to generate a major part of its revenue and operating cash flow. Nabors' and Loffland's Canadian and Middle East drilling operations will be combined.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP., New York, purchased from an undisclosed seller 100% of the working interest in 10 oil and gas wells in Sabine Parish, La., and about 2,100 acres of leases on which it plans to drill offset wells this year. It leased a 3 in., 10 mile pipeline to connect the wells to an interstate pipeline. The company estimates the acquisitions, when developed, will add 100,000 bbl of oil and 1.5 bcf of gas reserves.

EXPLORATION

EDISTO RESOURCES CORP., Dallas, acquired working interests on which it plans to use horizontal drilling to explore for and develop oil and gas. It formed a joint venture to develop Mississippian Bakken shale and acquired a 75% interest in 64,796 net acres in the Williston basin of North Dakota for $2 million and commitments to drill two wells and acquire more acreage. It agreed to participate in two Austin chalk wells in South Texas, where it holds 9,671 net acres and is considering further leasing.

ALTERNATE FUELS

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY awarded Westinghouse Electric Co. $50 million to continue development of AP600, a 600,000 kw, advanced, simplified, nuclear power plant that achieves safety through natural or passive systems. The contract also calls for submission of the AP600 modular design to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for certification as a standardized nuclear plant design. The company expects certification by 1995. Electric Power Research Institute, Westinghouse, and several associates will match the $50 million award.

ACQUISITIONS

FLUOR DANIEL INC. completed the purchase of Williams Bros. Engineering Co., Tulsa, from Ashland Technology Corp.

COMPANIES

GULF APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES INC. settled for $1.32 million claims against an insurance company. Gulf brought the claims for the insurance carrier's failure to fund defense and settlement costs in 1986 litigation involving Gulf's former ownership of a geophysical contractor.

BANNON ENERGY INC., Houston, and partners purchased Lybrook gathering and compression system, Rio Arriba County, N.M., and 2,000 acres of undeveloped leasehold from Cole Development Corp., Farmington, N.M., for $1.5 million.

CAMEX RESERVE OPERATING INC. is an operating unit formed by Cameron Exploration Inc. and Reserve Production Inc., both of Longview, Tex. Camex plans to drill in East Texas and the Gulf Coast area.

NORSK VIKINGOLJE AS, Trondheim, Norway, acquired 5.28% of the common shares of Global Marine Inc., Houston.

MARKETING

PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO. opened California's first public compressed natural gas auto fueling station Mar. 1 in Concord. PG&E said gas is available as a fleet vehicle fuel at as much as 30% less than the cost of gasoline.

LADD & CO. INC., Purchase, N.Y., acquired Radiant Oil Co. of Florida Inc., Jacksonville distributor, for an undisclosed sum. Geneva Capital Markets, Irvine, Calif., represented Radiant in the transaction.

AMERADA HESS CORP. acquired the retail operations of Newman Oil Go., a Fort Myers, Fla., convenience store chain, for an undisclosed sum. Geneva Capital Markets, Irvine, Calif., represented Newman in the transaction.

TRANSPORTATION

JAYHAWK PIPELINE CORP., operator, and Shamrock Pipeline Corp. completed an 8 in., 40 mile, 20,000 b/d pipeline between Hooker, Okla., and Clawson, Tex., to transport crude from Southwest Kansas to Diamond Shamrock Inc.'s McKee refinery at Sunray, Tex. Jayhawk is owned by National Cooperative Refinery Association and Coastal Derby Refining Co.

SOUTHWESTERN GAS PIPELINE, a unit of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp., acquired a 47.75% interest in an 83 mile, 70 MMcfd gas pipeline from Robertson County to Katy, Tex., and 152 miles of gathering lines from Hanover Energy Inc., Dallas. The deal increases Southwestern's interest to 97.75%. Southwestern's Ferguson Crossing Pipe Line Co. operates the system.

VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS INC., Norfolk, asked regulatory approval to extend gas service northeast from its service area into Essex, King and Queen, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland counties, Va. The utility also signed a 25 year contract to serve a 650,000 kw, combined cycle power plant near Richmond set for Dec. 1, 1991, start-up. It proposes to lay a 120 mile intrastate pipeline to serve the counties and plant.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS CO. plans to buy 521 MMcfd of spot gas in March at a weighted average price of $1.44/MMBTU, down from the February projected price of $1.89/MMBTU. Through Feb. 20, SoCalGas paid an average $1.99/MMBTU for 500 MMcfd of spot gas.