INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

May 14, 1990
MARATHON PETROLEUM IRELAND LTD. spudded the first delineation to a Celtic Sea oil and gas strike off southern Ireland. Its 48/24-3 discovery well flowed 1,600 b/d of oil and 5.4 MMcfd of gas about 16 miles south of Kinsale Head gas field. Drilled to 8,475 ft in 331 ft of water, the well was suspended pending evaluation. It was the last of five wells Marathon committed to in order to settle a long dispute over gas pricing. Marathon has an option to drill another five wells.

EXPLORATION

MARATHON PETROLEUM
IRELAND LTD. spudded the first delineation to a Celtic Sea oil and gas strike off southern Ireland. Its 48/24-3 discovery well flowed 1,600 b/d of oil and 5.4 MMcfd of gas about 16 miles south of Kinsale Head gas field. Drilled to 8,475 ft in 331 ft of water, the well was suspended pending evaluation. It was the last of five wells Marathon committed to in order to settle a long dispute over gas pricing. Marathon has an option to drill another five wells.

TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC extended Nelson oil field in the U.K. North Sea. Total 22/7-3, drilled to 7,872 ft, flowed 4,100 b/d of 44 gravity crude and 1.2 MMcfd of gas through a 70/64 in. choke. Interests in Block 22/7 are Total 16.5%, Elf U.K. plc 28.5%, Marathon Oil U.K. Ltd 25%, BP Exploration 25%, and Norsk Hydro Oil & Gas Ltd. 5%.

AEC OIL AND GAS LTD., Calgary, reports two natural gas discoveries in the Berland River area 161 miles northwest of Edmonton. One well flowed 5.2 MMcfd with 12.5% hydrogen sulfide from Devonian Leduc, and a second pay zone overlying Leduc cut 75 ft of gross pay but was not tested. Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. and PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. have interests in a second AEC Leduc well which flowed 5.3 MMcfd with 15% hydrogen sulfide.

PETROECUADOR received bids for exploration licenses on three blocks in the Oriente region: Mobil Oil Corp. Block 18, a combine of ARCO and Mobil Block 18, and a Conoco Inc. group Block 22.

PETROCHEMICALS

SHELL CHEMICALS U.K. LTD. let contract to M.W. Kellogg Ltd. for a $123 million, 100,000 metric tons/year low density polyethylene plant at its Carrington complex in Northwest England. It will replace two small trains and raise total LDPE capacity at the complex to 170,000 metric tons/year. West Germany's Salzgitter Industriebau will handle some engineering and procurement.

REFINING

BURMAH OIL PLC'S Castrol unit in West Germany acquired Optimol Oelwerke Industrie KG, Munich, a manufacturer of specialty greases and lubricants, for $31.16 million.

LAGOVEN SA will perform a feasibility study of refining patterns at the Kingston, Jamaica, refinery for state owned Petrojamaica. Lagoven supplies 10,000 b/d of Venezuelan crude to Jamaica under the San Jose accord.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

AN ARCO INDONESIA GROUP signed gas sales agreements allowing a $360 million development of a gas field on Pagerungan island in the Indonesian Java Sea. Gas will be sold at the wellhead to state owned Pertamina and then moved via a 167 mile, 26-30 in. pipeline to eastern Java for use in three power plants, as feedstock for a new fertilizer plant, and by other large industrial consumers. Production from the 2.5-3.5 tcf reserve field could start up in 1993 at about 150 MMcfd and perhaps double by 2000. Interests are ARCO 54%, BP Exploration 36%, and Indonesia's PT Bimantara Citra 10%.

SAGA PETROLEUM AS will submit plans by yearend for development of the 100 million bbl Tordis field in Block 34/7 south of Snorre field in the Norwegian North Sea. Saga plans to install a subsea production system but has not decided whether to tie the unit back to Statfjord or Gullfaks fields or use a dedicated floating production system.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission proposed a $150 million project to develop the Tatipaka-Pasarlapudi gas field complex in onshore Krishna-Godavari basin. Included are production and gas processing facilities to supply 124 MMcfd of gas to Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. and other industrial users.

NORSK HYDRO AS let a $77 million contract to Kvaerner Engineering, Oslo, for detailed engineering and procurement for the deck of a drilling-production platform to be installed in Brage field in the Norwegian North Sea. The 80,000 b/d unit is due on stream in January 1992. Total development cost is $1.38 billion.

BP EXPLORATION let a $57.4 million contract to Cooper for power generation and gas compression units for Bruce gas/condensate field development in the U.K. North Sea to Cooper Rolls Ltd., Merseyside, England (OGJ, Sept. 18, 1989, P. 29). Each of the five gas fired power units is rated at 25,000 kw.

PETROECUADOR started up 20 million bbl reserve Pucuna oil field 15 km west of Sacha field in the Amazon region of Ecuador at a rate of 4,000 b/d of 22-25 gravity crude.

SHELL BP TODD OIL SERVICES LTD. let a $9.25 million contract to Sembawang Engineering Pte., Singapore, for fabrication of a 2,350 ton topsides module for its Maui B platform, to be installed in summer 1991 off New Zealand. Shell expects to let a contract for the Maui B jacket in July.

COMPANIES

HEEREMA FABRICATION GROUP BV is negotiating a possible takeover of Grootint Holding BV, Zwijndrecht, Netherlands. Heerema specializes in offshore construction/transport services, Grootint in large scale steel fabrication work.

AKER DRILLING, Oslo, sold 52% of its share capital in a public offering for $56 million and applied for a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

TRANSPORTATION

HUNGARY'S Petroleum & Gas Industry Trust signed an agreement with Yugoslavian companies Energopetrol and Gas Novisad to transport 111.3 bcf/year of Soviet gas at a cost of about 35-53/Mcf for 20 years. Plans call for installation, to be completed by 1997, of a 28-32 in. pipeline from Beregdaroc on the Hungarian-Soviet border to Hajduszoboszlo on the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border at a cost of $115-132 million. An existing 24 in. line moves about 88.3 bcf/year of Soviet gas across Yugoslavia to Hungary.

NOVACORP INTERNATIONAL
CONSULTING INC. won contracts for pipeline studies in Jordan and Turkey. The Jordan study will assess gas supplies and markets and study feasibility of building a pipeline to Amman and elsewhere in Jordan from Risha gas field. In Turkey, Novacorp and Turkey's Tumas will conduct preliminary design of three pipelines totaling 1,800 km to expand the national gas grid operated by state owned Botas.

OLEODUCTO DE COLOMBIA plans a 476 km oil pipeline from Vasconia to Covenas on Colombia's Caribbean coast. U.S. Export-Import Bank is helping to finance sale of $28.5 million in U.S. pipeline equipment and services to build the line. Techint Inc. unit Ramseyer & Miller will provide procurement, financing, and consulting services.

Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.