U.S. BRIEFS

COGENERATION

PEDRICKTOWN COGENERATION LP secured $110 million financing for a 117,000 kw cogeneration plant to be built in Pedricktown, N.J. The project, to be completed in early 1992, will be managed by Cogeneration Partners of America, Cherry Hill, N.J.

COMPANIES

BROWN & ROOT INTERNATIONAL INC. rescinded planned sale of marine construction assets to Offshore Pipelines Inc. Brown & Root had agreed to sell 23 derrick, pipelay, and other vessels plus interests in land based support units in the Far East, Middle East, and U.S.

LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS affiliated with Energy Service Co. Inc., Houston, agreed to cooperate with R.D. Smith & Co. Inc. in restructuring Penrod Drilling Corp. The Ensco partnerships and a Smith affiliated trust now jointly own about 68.8% of the senior debt and equity of Penrod.

SANTA FE PACIFIC CORP. plans to split into three entities and to distribute pro rata its more than 80% share of Santa Fe Pacific Realty Corp. and Santa Fe Energy Resources Inc. After the spinoff, SFP will still own Santa Fe Railway, Santa Fe Pacific Minerals Corp., and 44% of Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline Partners LP.

USX CORP.'S shareholders advisory committee urged stockholders to vote to split USX into Marathon Oil Co. and U.S. Steel. The panel said the split would increase the stock's total market value by $3 billion to $48/share.

ENSERCH CORP. transferred its oil field services segment to Pool Energy Services Co. with the public sale of 11.5 million shares of Pool common stock at $10.25/share. Enserch will use the funds to reduce fixed income debt.

TRANSPORTATION

KOCH INDUSTRIES INC., Wichita, will extend its 10 in., 75,000 b/d, South Texas crude oil pipeline by 73 miles into horizontal drilling areas in Pearsall field.

LONE STAR GAS CO., Dallas, will lay 24 1/2 miles of 30 in. gas pipeline in Ellis County, Tex., to link its West Texas pipeline to its Gulf Coast line. It will also expand the Katy, Tex., compressor station. Completion is expected in the third quarter at a cost of about $17 million.

OKLAHOMA NATURAL GAS CO., Tulsa, agreed to buy all of Lone Star Gas Co.'s gas systems in Oklahoma for about $34 million. Lone Star serves about 36,000 customers in southern Oklahoma.

AMOCO ENERGY TRADING CORP. signed a firm 10 year gas transmission contract with Natural Gas Pipeline of America to ship as much as 250 MMcfd from mid U.S. sources to the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast.

GREAT LAKES GAS TRANSMISSION CO., Detroit, will use the proceeds from $125 million in senior notes to refinance short term debt incurred by about $190 million in pipeline projects. The 177 miles of 36 in. pipe, which were to be on line by Apr. 30, will increase Great Lakes' capacity by 142.5 MMcfd.

SANTA FE PACIFIC CORP. agreed to settle for $350 million, to be paid in several installments, an antitrust lawsuit involving Energy Transportation Systems Inc.'s coal slurry pipeline joint venture. ETSI partners are Panhandle Eastern Corp., Enron Corp., Bechtel Group Inc., and K-N Energy Inc. SFP's appeal of a Beaumont, Tex., federal jury's $750.1 million verdict in 1989 will be dismissed.

PROCESSING

DIAMOND SHAMROCK INC. started up a 25,000 b/d continuous catalyst regeneration reformer at its McKee refinery near Dumas, Tex. It expects to complete by mid-May a crude distillation unit at its Three Rivers, Tex., refinery that will increase throughput by 5,000 b/d to 55,000 b/d, expandable to 70,000 b/d. Also on line for mid May start-up is a propane-propylene splitter at Mont Belvieu, Tex.

PRIDE COS. LP, Abilene, Tex., let a fixed price contract to Howe-Baker Engineers Inc., Tyler, Tex., to build a catalytic reforming unit at its Abilene refinery. The CRU, expected to cost about $17.5 million, will allow Pride to produce high octane gasoline and increase throughput by 20,000 b/d to 45,000 b/d.

CASTLE ENERGY CORP., Blue Bell, Pa., has financed the restart of its Lawrenceville, Ill., refinery. Castle's Indian Refining LP owns the refinery, which it expects to restart in the fall at 60,000 b/d.

PORT OF SOUTH LOUISIANA, LaPlace, La., set up a special purpose foreign trade zone sub zone for Star Enterprise Inc.'s Convent, La., refinery. FTZ status will allow the refinery to import crude oil while avoiding duty, user fees, and some other taxes on products it exports.

GOVERNMENT

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE paid $19.5 million to six Pacific and Gulf Coast states, the fourth yearly payment in a pact giving them shares of royalties, rents, and bonuses from federal offshore leases. MMS paid $8.67 million to California, $4.02 million each to Texas and Alaska, $2.52 million to Louisiana, $210,000 to Alabama, and $60,000 to Mississippi.

EXPLORATION

AMPOLEX INC., Denver, tested its 2 Island Butte discovery well in Dolores County, Colo., at 1,461 b/d of oil and 1.3 MMcfd of gas through a 1/4 in. choke with 1,825 psi flowing surface pressure from pay at 6,165-6,203 ft in Pennsylvanian lower Desert Creek. Ampolex, as operator, and Petroleum Securities Australia Ltd., Sydney, drilled the well under a joint venture and farmout with Celsius Energy Co.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

MSR EXPLORATION LTD., Cut Bank, Mont., will use part of a $10 million credit line from Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. to buy the 46 well Winters oil field in Runnels County, Tex. The purchase will more than double MSR's production to about 1,200 b/d of oil equivalent.

EVI INC., Houston, bought offshore rig assets of SEE Inc., including seven workover rigs, one platform drilling rig, parts, and equipment. Most of the workover rigs are 750-900 hp, designed for high pressure wellbores. The new assets will be owned and managed by EVI subsidiary Mallard Workover & Drilling.

POGO PRODUCING CO., Houston, and its joint venturers spudded the first of 10 offshore wells, including two wildcats, planned on Eugene Island Block 330 where it has a 35% working interest. It also has a 25% stake in Eugene Island Blocks 211 and 212 where six development wells are planned. Pogo has increased its budget to $50 million for 1990 from $29.1 million in 1989 and hopes to spend on drilling its interest savings from reduced debt.