INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

PIPELINES

IRAN resumed gas exports to the U.S.S.R. Apr. 9 through a 1,300 km pipeline from its southern fields to Astara on the Caspian Sea after an 11 year hiatus. The two countries last week signed a 15 year contract covering sales of 94 bcf/year as part of a $6 billion trade pact. Iranian exports could climb to 313 bcf/year under the agreement. The U.S.S.R. also agreed to allow use of its territory as a transit point for Iranian gas exports through Turkey to Europe.

COMPANIES

BP FRANCE suspended a tender for sale of its exploration and production assets after getting an attractive bid from Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine, BP's main partner in France. Elf is willing to take on all BP France's upstream personnel. Terms of the offer aren't disclosed.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

SIX MEN ARE DEAD and another four missing and presumed dead after an explosion and fire at Flow Station 1-4 on Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo late last month. Operator Maraven SA is investigating the cause. One of the dead was a Maraven employee, the other five reported killed were employees of service contractor Cobsa.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission hired the Boss Prithvi semisubmersible from Bombay Offshore Supplies & Services Ltd. (BOSS) for work in the Bombay High area off India. Acquired in January for $9 million, the BOSS rig is expected to earn $16.5 million in its first 2 years.

AMOCO CANADA let contract to ORS Corp. affiliate EOR International Inc., Calgary, for installation in early June of ORS's electromagnetic stimulation process on two wells in Wabasca heavy oil field in Alberta.

IMPORTS-EXPORTS

INDIAN OIL CORP. will import 21.9 million bbl of crude and products valued at $447 million from Kuwait during fiscal 1990-91. Separately, India earlier disclosed plans to import 5.84 million bbl of crude and products in fiscal 1990-91. India's total oil import bill is projected to jump to $5.335 billion in 1990-91 from $3.6 billion in 1989-90 and $2.865 billion in 1988-89.

EXPLORATION

HAMILTON OIL CORP.'S 1-43/27 wildcat flowed 37.6 MMcfd of gas through 3-1/2 in. tubing in the U.K. North Sea southern basin about 3.7 miles east of its North Ravenspurn gas development. It is the first major discovery on acreage awarded under Britain's 11th licensing round.

PREMIER CONSOLIDATED OILFIELDS PLC 1 Bua Ban flowed 750 b/d of 29 gravity oil at a site on Block B11/27 in the Gulf of Thailand. The discovery is about 10 miles southwest of its 1 Songkhla discovery, which produced 1,500 b/d of 31, gravity oil in December 1988. Premier is moving the rig to drill 1 South Songkhla about 3.6 miles south of 1 Songkhla.

PETROPERU signed a risk contract with Edward Callan Interests (ECI), Houston, for Block 50 in the Santiago basin of Peru's northern jungle. ECI pledged $32.2 million in work covering seismic and geochemical surveys and five wells. The contract covers 30 years in the event oil is discovered, 40 years for gas, Work is to begin within 90 days of government approvals.

PAKISTAN'S Oil & Gas Development Corp. 1-X Qadirpur flowed 19 MMcfd of gas in Sind Province, reported 9.5% interest holder Premier Consolidated Oilfields plc.

NEW ZEALAND PETROLEUM CO. (NZPC) plans to spud a wildcat by August on the 116,000 acre PPL 38705 onshore/offshore license in New Zealand's Taranaki basin. NZPC, a venture of Triton Energy Corp., Dallas, and Petrocorp Exploration Ltd., Wellington, sold a 10% interest in the license to Southern Petroleum (Okawa) of New Zealand subject to approval of the energy ministry, which holds an 11% interest in the block.

HADSON AUSTRALIA DEVELOPMENT PTY. LTD. 1 Sinbad flowed 14.7 MMcfd of gas and 250 b/d of 55.2 gravity condensate through a 1/8 in. choke with 1,687 psi surface flowing pressure from 10 ft of perforations in lower Cretaceous Flag sandstone. Logs showed a 118 ft net hydrocarbon column at 6,651-6,772 ft. The discovery, off Western Australia, is in 123 ft of water on TP/8 permit next to Harriet oil field, where Hadson is operator.

INDIA'S ONGC tested light, sweet oil from two onshore Cauvery basin structures in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu state. ONGC's Nannilam wildcat flowed about 500 b/d of oil, and its Narimanam wildcat flowed about 555 b/d of oil.

PETROCHEMICALS

PRALCA, a joint venture of Venezuelan companies Pequiven SA 49% and Corimon 16%, Olin Corp. 25%, and International Finance Corp. 10%, let a $139.5 million contract to a combine of Italy's Tecnologie Progetti Lavori and Venezuela's Inelectra for engineering, procurement, and construction of a $209 million complex to produce 66,000 metric tons/year of ethylene glycol and 16, 000 metric tons/year of ethylene oxide in Santa Rita, Zulia, Venezuela. It is to go on stream in second half 1992.

ICI AUSTRALIA LTD., Melbourne, let a turnkey contract valued at more than $53 million to Linde AG, Munich, for an 86,000 metric ton/year, Unipol process linear low density polyethylene plant at Botany, New South Wales, Australia. Start-up is set for early 1992.

CHEVRON CHEMICAL CO. acquired Rhone-Poulenc's 50% interest in Orogil SA, Paris, a jointly owned subsidiary for which Chevron assumed management responsibility when it acquired Rhone-Poulenc's interest in Petrosynthese SA, a sister joint company. Orogil manufactures fuel and lube additives at its Gonfreville, France, plant. Petrosynthese manufactures branched alkylbenzene feedstock for detergents and heavy alkylates for lube additive sulfonates at Gonfreville. Terms aren't disclosed.

ALTERNATE FUELS

VENEZUELA'S Corpoven SA plans to install the nation's first commercial pump to dispense compressed natural gas as a motor fuel in Caracas. CNG now is available only to Corpoven fleet trucks in Valencia.

REFINING

IRAN commissioned the three train first phase of a lube oil plant at the 140,000 b/d Basrah refinery. First phase capacities are 110,000 b/d of base lubes and 3,000 b/d of asphalt.

INDIA'S Madras Refineries Ltd. posted record throughput and pretax profits in fiscal 1989-90. Throughput averaged 110,000 b/d vs. target of 107,000 b/d and installed capacity of 112,000 b/d. Profits rose 31.4% to $53.5 million.