U.S. BRIEFS

EXPLORATION

NICOR EXPLORATION, Denver, tested 4 Bowman in Pittsburg County, Okla., an apparent Ordovician Viola discovery about 6 miles west of Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle gas production in Wilburton field. It flowed 2.25 MMcfd of gas from perforations at 13,580-614 ft.

TRANSPORTATION

TRANSOK INC., Tulsa, started construction of Phase II of its Arkoma basin project, a 64 mile, 24 in. pipeline from near Wilburton, Okla., to Transok's Texoma system in northwestern Atoka County, Okla. Capacity will be 250 MMcfd of gas at first, expandable to 400 MMcfd with compression.

MICHIGAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION issued Saginaw Bay Pipeline Co. a permit to lay a 126 mile, 135 MMcfd gas pipeline from Bay City northwest to two gas processing plants near Kalkaska, Mich. Saginaw Bay hopes to start construction in May for operation by fall 1990.

DRIFT RIVER oil terminal, operated by Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co. on Alaska's Cook Inlet, spilled 90,000 gal of oil through a valve mistakenly left open, the state department of environmental conservation reported. The oil was trapped in containment dikes. Cause was under investigation.

A TEXAS EASTERN PRODUCTS CO. 8 in. pipeline leaked liquefied petroleum gas that exploded about 7:40 a.m. Mar. 13 near North Blenheim in Schoharie County, N.Y., about 35 miles west of Albany. Two persons were killed and four others injured. The line, shut down east of Watkins Glen, N.Y., will be returned to service within a few days or, if hydrostatic testing is necessary, 30-45 days.

VALERO NATURAL GAS PARTNERS LP, San Antonio, and Clayton W. Williams Jr. and Williams Co., Midland, Tex., settled a lawsuit in which Williams had alleged damages of about $800 million in take or pay claims, breach of marketing obligations, and punitive damages. Terms were not disclosed.

COMPANIES

CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. will retain its refining/marketing and pipeline operations in Alaska. The company, which sought offers for those businesses in fourth quarter 1989, rejected all bids (OGJ, Oct. 9, 1989, Newsletter).

MIRAMAR RESOURCES INC., Amarillo, Tex., completed a merger between its RDC Inc. subsidiary and Rockwell Drilling Co., Holdenville, Okla. With addition of Rockwell's properties, Miramar owns more than 50 producing wells in Colorado and Oklahoma.

REFINING

ILLINOIS Department of Commerce and Community Affairs designated Indian Refining Co.'s 57,000 b/d Lawrenceville, Ill., refinery an enterprise zone eligible for real estate, utility, and sales tax abatement and state investment and job credits. Indian Refining, a unit of Castle Energy Corp., Blue Bell, Pa., plans to reactivate the refinery, idle since 1985.

COMMONWEALTH OIL REFINING CO. (Corco) emerged from bankruptcy and is essentially debt free. Corco operates a 12 million bbl storage and blending facility near Ponce, P.R., and is open to joint venture discussions on start-up of refining/petrochemical units, The units include two 160,000 b/d crude units, a visbreaker, cat crackers, isoprene units, hydrogen treaters, and alkylation units.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. let contract to Davy McKee Corp. for basic design and detailed engineering on a 7,500 b/sd methyl tertiary butyl ether plant at Borger, Tex. The plant will incorporate technology developed by Phillips and Davy for isobutane dehydrogenation and Phillips MTBE technology.

GAS PROCESSING

TRIUMPH OKLAHOMA LP, Dallas, purchased three gas processing plants in Logan and Garvin counties, Okla., from Tejas Gas Corp., Houston. The plants have a combined 28 MMcfd capacity and 235 miles of gathering lines.

ENRON GAS PROCESSING completed the purchase of CSX Energy Corp. from CSX Corp., Owensboro, Ky.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

DANTEX OIL & GAS INC., Dallas, and Davis Petroleum Corp. plan a drilling program on 15,000 acres in the Austin chalk trend of South Texas this year. The companies' 1 Ruth Davis, 3 miles north of Dilly in Frio County, flowed 612 b/d of oil and 168 Mcfd of gas through an 18/64 in. choke with 335 psig flowing tubing pressure. The well has 3,002 ft of lateral displacement. Measured depth is 9,519 ft.

MSR EXPLORATION LTD., Fort Worth, plans to acquire a 100% working interest in the 46 well Winters Capps field in Runnels County, Tex., from Omni Petroleum Corp. MSR estimates reserves at 1.6 million bbl of oil and 2.5 bcf of gas. The deal will more than double MSR's production to about 1,200 b/d of oil equivalent.

TERMO CO., Long Beach, assumed ownership of Oak Canyon field in northwestern Los Angeles County from Chevron U.S.A. Inc., effective last Jan. 19. The property's 12 wells produce a combined 240 b/d of oil and 100 Mcfd of gas from 7,000 ft. Termo plans to reactivate idle wells, recomplete wells, and waterflood the property.

ORYX ENERGY CO. will complete 3 OCS-G-2434 on East High Island Block A-370 in the Gulf of Mexico this summer as its first subsea gas well at a cost of $4 million. Two intervals are expected to flow a combined 5-10 MMcfd starting in fourth quarter 1990. Gas will flow from the wellhead in 375 ft of water to be processed at Oryx's production platform about 1 mile northwest on the same block.

MARKETING

INDIANA GAS CO. and Northern Indiana Public Service Go. converted six vehicles to use compressed natural gas for Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. Northern Indiana, which began its CNG vehicle program in 1981, has 728 CNG vehicles and 21 refueling stations at company sites in northern Indiana.

FINA OIL & CHEMICAL CO. will acquire 19 Peoples Plus gasoline/convenience stores in the Twin Cities area from Kunz Oil Co., Minneapolis, on Apr. 18. Fina currently has 31 retail outlets in the Twin Cities.

GOVERNMENT

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE let a $438,000 contract to A.T. Kearney/Centaur Division to study potential social effects associated with Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas development. Kearney will develop a computer model capable of calculating and documenting environmental costs for the 26 OCS planning areas.

ACQUISITIONS

MEGA NATURAL GAS CO., Tulsa, acquired Colony Energy Corp., Midland, Tex., from Ala-Tenn Resources Inc., Florence, Ala., for $6.4 million.