INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

PETROCHEMICALS

ZIMBABWE hopes to inaugurate its chemical industry with a $110 million polyvinyl chloride plastics plant. PVC Polymer Zimbabwe Pvt. Ltd. let contract to Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd., Reading, U.K., to complete by yearend a second phase feasibility study for the project, tentatively scheduled for completion in 1993. If approved, the plant would produce 20,000 metric tons/year of PVC, as well as caustic soda, chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, and hydrochloric acid.

SAMSUNG GENERAL CHEMICAL LTD. let contract to Krupp Koppers GmbH, Essen, for basic engineering and other services on South Korea's first aromatics complex. The $20 million unit at Seosang will process more than 6,000 b/d of pyrolysis gasoline feedstock from an ethylene plant under construction to produce toluene, xylene, and ethylbenzene for conversion to 140,000 metric tons/year of benzene. Construction is to begin in autumn 1990, with start-up in summer 1992.

SAFETY

BP EXPLORATION PLC bought two Skyscape emergency evacuation systems for the new Miller oil and gas platform in the U.K. North Sea from Selantic Industrier AS, Norway. Miller is to start up in mid 1991. In an emergency, Miller personnel will be able to escape through a fire resistant Kevlar tube to life rafts in the sea.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

ABU DHABI CO. FOR ONSHORE OIL OPERATIONS (ADCO) started studies for North Bu Hasa field pressure maintenance, partial water injection in Sahil field, and tie in of producing wells in Bab and Sahil fields. ADCO also is working on a program of horizontal wells in 1990-91 to improve productivity and injectivity in low permeability and other difficult reservoirs.

RANGER OIL LTD., Calgary, expects total production to reach 14 MMcfd from its discoveries in the Helmut-July Lake area of Northeast British Columbia. Two wells are on production at 4.7 MMcfd, and more wells will be placed on stream later this year. Ranger and Czar Resources Ltd., Calgary, each have a 50% interest in the discoveries.

SOC. NATIONALE ELF AQUITAINE hired Western Oceanic Inc.'s Alaskan Star semisubmersible for a long term drilling program off Congo and Angola. The 12,000 ton rig, rated to 1,500 ft of water, is en route to West Africa on the Mighty Servant I heavy lift ship.

PIPELINES

CHEVRON U.K. LTD. let contract to Stena Offshore, Aberdeen, for four skids containing eight subsea emergency safety valves on all four infield pipelines in Ninian oil field in the U.K. North Sea. Work on the 8 in. and 24 in. pipelines will take place during a 3 week production shutdown in September.

ESSO EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION KHORAT let a $4.31 million contract to a West German-Thai combine of Pipeline Engineering GmbH and Beta Engineering & Chemical Corp. to lay a 16 in., 3 1/2 km pipeline from Esso's Nam Phong gas field to Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's 300,000 kw gas fired power plant under construction in Northeast Thailand. Throughput, scheduled to start at 40 MMcfd by November, could climb to 250 MMcfd.

TRANSPORTATION

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission was to start up this month a new transportation system for its recent strikes in the onshore Cauvery basin. ONGC will move crude oil by rail tank cars from Nagapattinan to Tondiarpet rail junction in Madras. From Tondiarpet, it is laying a pipeline to Madras Refineries Ltd.'s refinery at Manali, near Madras.

SULFUR

SHELL CANADA LTD. let contract to Cana Construction Ltd., Calgary, for construction of a sour gas processing pilot plant near Caroline, Alta., part of a sulfur recovery demonstration project. It will process gas with more than 90% hydrogen sulfide from Bearberry gas field. Shell also plans a 4,000 metric ton capacity Bearberry sulfur production system in nearby Caroline natural gas field if the sour gas pilot is successful.

EXPLORATION

VAALCO ENERGY INC., Houston, began a 60 line mile seismic survey in North Central Belize to be complete by the third quarter. Vaalco is operator and holds 75% interest in a 1,812 sq km concession in the Corozal basin, the southern continuation of the Yucatan platform and eastern extension of the North Peten basin. Some earlier wells on the block had live oil shows.

IDEMITSU OIL DEVELOPMENT CO. signed a production sharing contract with Malaysia's state owned Petronas to explore a 9,700 sq km onshore concession in Sarawak. Idemitsu will pay for 80% of a 5 year, $17 million exploration program.

AMOCO (U.K.) EXPLORATION CO.'S 22/23a-3 wildcat, drilled to 10,936 ft by the Glomar Arctic III semisubmersible, flowed 5,600 b/d of oil from two Paleocene Forties sandstone intervals near Montrose and Arbroath fields in the U.K. North Sea. Amoco holds a 30.77% interest in the discovery, Enterprise Oil plc 41.02%, Amerada Hess Ltd. 23.08%, and North Sea Inc. 5.13%.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission drilled an oil and gas discovery at Kaikalur near Gudivada in the onshore Krishna-Godavari basin of Andhra Pradesh state. The discovery well flowed 500 b/d of oil and 317.8 Mcfd of gas. An earlier Kaikalur well yielded non-commercial oil shows.

MARKETING

MOHAWK OIL CO. LTD., Vancouver, B.C., began a print and radio advertising campaign it hopes will persuade Canadian motorists to use ethanol blend gasolines. Mohawk said its Premium Plus unloaded emits up to 40% less carbon monoxide than other gasolines sold in western Canada.

GOVERNMENT

INDIA'S government earmarked for Oil & Natural Gas Commission $1.8 billion, the bulk of the government's $2.73 billion in oil and natural gas outlays for fiscal 1990-91. The government's petroleum budget in 1989-90 was $2.3 billion. Oil India Ltd. will receive $146 million and Gas Authority of India Ltd. $155 million.

REFINING

REFINERS in Japan and Canada chose effluent refrigerated sulfuric acid technology developed by Stratco Inc., Leawood, Kan., for three new alkylation units. Involved are a 3,000 b/sd unit to start up in third quarter 1991 at KOA Oil Co. Ltd.'s Osaka refinery, a 3,500 b/sd unit to start up in first quarter 1991 at Mitsubishi Oil Co. Ltd.'s Mizushima refinery, and a 6,200 b/sd alky unit at Consumers' Co-Operative Refineries Ltd.'s Regina, Sask., refinery.