INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

COMPANIES

SHELL CANADA LTD. plans to restructure its downstream operations and may sell or close some of its 3,500 service stations and four refineries. The restructuring plan is expected to be in place by second half 1990. Shell plans to concentrate on an exploration and development program with capital outlays of $768 million (Canadian) this year (OGJ, Apr. 2, p. 40).

POCO PETROLEUMS LTD. and Voyager Energy Inc., both of Calgary, signed a letter of intent to merge by Sept. 30 in an exchange of shares. The resulting company will have production of 12,400 b/d of liquids and 160 MMcfd of gas. Reserves will be 31 million bbl of liquids and 820 bcf of gas.

EXPLORATION

JEBCO SEISMIC LTD., London, and a research institute of the Soviet Ministry of Geology will conduct a seminar Apr. 25-27 in Moscow for western companies interested in onshore exploration and development joint ventures in the U.S.S.R. No technical presentations will be given. Jebco is making available data packages on six large areas in the Timan-Pechora and pre-Caspian regions and eastern Siberia (see map, OGJ, Mar. 19, p. 16).

JASRA-ELF GROUP'S 1 Maharaja Lela wildcat flowed a combined 5,040 b/d of 39 oil, 48 MMcfd of gas, and 4,500 b/d of 42 gravity condensate from four zones on the 1,572 sq km Block B about 50 km off Brunei. The group drilled the Juragan and Perdana strikes on neighboring Block A in 1988-89. Partners in the group are Elf's Dutch unit Elf Aquitaine Offshore Asia BV, Jasra International Petroleum Sdn. Bhd., and Brunei interests.

MOBIL ERDGAS-ERDOEL GMBH'S Z-1 West Walsrode discovery flowed 27 MMcfd of gas with 7,580 psi wellhead pressure from Rotliegendes sandstone at 15,000 ft on its Ahrensheide permit in northern West Germany. Mobil, with 100% interest in the strike, plans a confirmation well in second half 1990.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM (Caledonia) Ltd. tested 6,529 b/d of 44 gravity oil and 12.5 MMcfd of gas through a 48/64 in. choke at its 15/17-24 Westray wildcat drilled to 15,670 ft in Block 15/17, about 9 miles southeast of Piper field in the U.K. North Sea. Interests in the block are held by operator Oxy 36.5%, Texaco Britain Ltd. 23.5%, and Lasmo North Sea plc and Union Texas Petroleum Ltd. 20% each.

TANKERS

TANKER ACCIDENTS spilled petroleum products off Turkey and Belgium late last month. A Chinese freighter collided with an Iraqi tanker at the entrance to Bosporus Strait Mar. 29, spilling almost 13,000 bbl of gasoline. Cleanup and an investigation are underway. An Italian tanker spilled an undisclosed volume of fuel oil in the North Sea, causing a 1.2 mile long, 100 yd wide slick that washed ashore, soiling beaches at Zeebrugge, Belgium. The Serafina tanker was held at Bremen pending an investigation.

MARKETING

ARCO PRODUCTS CO. signed a license agreement with Fas Gas Oil, a unit of Parkland Industries Ltd., Red Deer, Alta., to open as many as 100 am/pm minimart convenience store/service stations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and eastern British Columbia. Initially, Fas Gas Oil will open five am/pm stores, the first one in late summer.

PETROCHEMICALS

TOSOH CORP., Tokyo, will boost its ethylene capacity through acquisition of an affiliate and related plans for a new ethylene plant. On Oct. 1, Tosoh will acquire the remaining 54% interest in Shin-Daiiyowa Petrochemical it doesn't own. It plans to spend $283-315 million to build an ethylene plant at the affiliate's complex in Yokkaichi, Mie prefecture. The plant, to start up in 1993-95, will produce 400,000 metric tons/year of ethylene. It will be expandable to about 550,000 metric tons/year.

PT PUPUK SRIWIDJAJA, Indonesia's state petrochemical company, let contract to Kellogg Overseas Corp. for design of a 1,350 metric ton/day ammonia plant at Palembang, South Sumatra. The ammonia plant and a 1,725 metric ton/day urea plant will be built alongside an existing fertilizer complex Kellogg built in the 1970s. Total installed cost of the plant, scheduled for completion in late 1992, is estimated at more than $200 million.

DAVY MCKEE (London) Ltd. signed a license agreement with ICI to build and market ammonia plants worldwide using the Leading Concept Ammonia Technology (LCA). By separating the ammonia manufacturing process from the steam and power system, LCA eliminates much of the complexity that a conventional ammonia plant must have to cut energy consumption, Davy said.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TENDER ASSISTED DRILLING will be used for the first time in the U.K. North Sea on the Shell-Esso combine's Gannet A platform. Operator Shell U.K. Exploration & Production let contracts worth $73.3 million to Sedco Forex, Aberdeen, to convert the Sedco 714 semisubmersible into a support tender to be operational by October 1992. It will provide drilling operations and crew for 15 oil wells and two gas wells from Gannet A. Shell-Esso plans to start up the $1.14 billion Gannet project in late 1992.

CHINA'S DAQING oil field is expected to produce 1 million b/d this year, field administration officials said. In the first quarter, China's biggest oil field produced an average 1.049 million b/d, 5,755 b/d more than planned.

MARATHON PETROLEUM Syria Ltd. 3 Ash Shaer delineation well flowed a combined 40.3 MMcfd of gas and 688 b/d of 60 gravity condensate through 1 1/4-2 in. chokes from intervals at 7,343-8,265 ft on the Palmyra block in Syria, 150 miles northeast of Damascus. The well, 4.3 miles south-southeast of the 1 Ash Shaer strike, was drilled to 10,579 ft. Interests are held by operator Marathon 65% and BP Petroleum Development Ltd. 35%.

COGENERATION

ENRON POWER CORP. let contract to Westinghouse Electric Corp. for 10 combustion turbine generators-eight 169,000 kw and two 216,000 kw units-for the world's biggest gas fired cogeneration plant and England's first independent power producer, a $1 billion, 1.725 million kw plant at Teesside, England. The order, which includes an option for another 10 combustion turbine-generators, could eventually total $500 million. Equipment deliveries are scheduled for June 1991-June 1992. Commercial start-up is set for early 1993.

ALTERNATE FUELS

NW ENERGY CORP., Vancouver, signed a 25 year agreement to supply B.C. Hydro with 55,000 kw of electricity to be supplied by a $135 million power plant fueled by 600,000 green tons/year of wood waste at Williams Lake, B.C. Construction will begin in 1991 with start-up scheduled in 1993, NW Energy is a joint venture of BC Gas unit Inland Pacific Energy Corp., Washington Water Power Co. unit WP Energy Co., and Tondu Energy Systems, Houston.