U.S. BRIEFS

REFINING

ENGELHARD CORP., Edison, N.J., hiked prices for its U.S. produced standard fluid catalytic cracking catalysts by an average 12% and for high activity, high performance catalysts by at least 20%. It raised prices of traditional gasoline catalysts less than 12% and stopped all product discounts.

STAR ENTERPRISE will begin building a 40,000 b/d residuum upgrading unit at its 250,000 b/d Port Arthur, Tex., refinery during second half 1990. Bechtel Corp. is in charge of engineering design, and Brown & Root U.S.A. Inc. will serve as primary contractor. Market value of the refinery will rise by about $100 million.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TEX/CON OIL & GAS CO., Houston, bought 12 producing leases in Southeast Texas from Geodominion Petroleum, Corpus Christi. The deal includes leases in Kainer, Kamlock, and Pin Oak fields, and a 7 mile, 12 MMcfd capacity gas gathering system.

A JOINT VENTURE of Freeport-McMoRan Resource Partners LP, New Orleans, IMC Fertilizer Group Inc., and Felmont Oil Corp., San Francisco, acquired oil and gas reserves of 35-50 million bbl and 8 bcf off Louisiana from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. It paid $137 million cash plus reimbursement of about $13 million in Chevron development costs. The reserves on Main Pass Block 299 are in the same caprock reservoir as the venture's 67 million long ton sulfur reserve.

OXY USA INC. and Oryx Energy Co. began production from their Mustang Island Block A-16 A platform 43 miles off Texas in 274 ft of water. Biggest flow rate so far has been 33 MMcfd of gas from six wells in May, with 40 MMcfd estimated deliverability.

NAHAMA & WEAGANT ENERGY CO., Bakersfield, Calif., plans to drill at least 25 gas wells by yearend 1993 on a farmout from ARCO covering more than 70,000 acres in the Mist field area of Columbia and Clatsop counties, Ore.

NERCO OIL & GAS INC., Portland, Ore., acquired producing leases and undeveloped acreage in Trimble field, Smith and Simpson counties, Miss., from several investors for about $67 million. Included are 14 wells, which produced at 26 MMcfd of gas and 170 b/d of condensate in May, and a gas gathering system.

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE proposed to double to 6 years the period that offshore lessees under net profit share arrangements must maintain their records. In a June 7 Federal Register notice, the agency also proposed to remove special audit rules for the net profit share leases.

GAS PROCESSING

TIPPERARY CORP., Denver, sold its gas processing segment to an undisclosed buyer for about $7.7 million.

UNION CARBIDE Chemicals & Plastics Co. Inc. acquired rights to the Selexol gas treating solvent from Norton Co., Worcester, Mass.

TRANSPORTATION

CONOCO PIPE LINE CO., suspended plans to lay a 6 in. line from its products terminal near Dallas to a terminal that Conoco still plans to build near Abilene, Tex.

COURTS

LOUIS BORGET, former president of Enron Oil Corp., Houston, was sentenced in New York federal court to 1 year and 1 day in prison and ordered to pay almost $6 million restitution for his role in an oil contract trading scam. Borget pleaded guilty in February. An Enron lawsuit claims the scheme cost it more than $142 million.

ASHLAND OIL INC. asked a Kanawha County, W.Va., circuit judge to reverse a $10.3 million jury award over alleged caustic emissions from its Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery. Claims in more than 1,100 related suits against Ashland exceed $2.7 billion.

COMPANIES

UNION EXPLORATION PARTNERS LTD. (UXP) filed with Securities and Exchange Commission to change from a Texas limited partnership to a Delaware corporation, Unocal Exploration Corp. (UXC), effective Aug. 1 . It expects to convert each outstanding UXP unit to a common share of UXC.

UNITHOLDERS in ConVest Energy Partners Ltd., Houston, will receive 1 share of stock in a new corporation for every 2 ConVest units as part of a business combination between affiliate Sanderling Oil Co. LP and a subsidiary of general partner ConVest Energy Corp.

LASALLE ENERGY CORP., Houston, will file a prepackaged Chapter 11 reorganization plan as part of an accord reached with bondholders to exchange debt for equity. LaSalle unit United Gas Pipe Line Co. also agreed with its lenders, Bank of Montreal and Prudential Insurance Co. of America, to amend its credit agreement and first mortgage bonds.

ACQUISITIONS

SEAGULL ENERGY CORP., Houston, signed a definitive contract to buy Wacker Oil Inc., Houston, from Costain Holdings Inc., Chicago, for about $77 million cash.

EXPLORATION

UNION TEXAS PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, was awarded interests ranging from 331/3% to 100% in 18 Gulf of Mexico blocks it bid on at the federal offshore lease sale Mar. 21. Bonus will amount to $11.5 million. Its bid, with a cobidder, of about $5.56 million for Vermilion Block 395 was the sale's highest,

EXXON CO. U.S.A.'S 1 Wayne Wooley zone discovery well in Marion County, Miss., flowed 18 MMcfd of gas and 262 b/d of condensate through a 3/8 in. choke with 5,241 psi flowing tubing pressure from 14,150266 ft in lower Cretaceous James. It is the first James production in the Hub field area.

ORYX ENERGY CO., Dallas, tested its 1 OCS-G 6888 No. 2 ST flex trend discovery in the Gulf of Mexico at 11,356 b/d of oil and 9 MMcfd of gas from three Pliocene to Miocene sands. The well is on Viosca Knoll Block 826 in 1,726 ft of water, about 140 miles southeast of New Orleans.

COGENERATION

CMS GENERATION CO., Dearborn, Mich., and Tondu Energy Systems Inc. started up their $87 million, 50,000 kw Filer City Station cogeneration plant near Manistee, Mich.

MIDLAND COGENERATION VENTURE LP, Midland, Mich., agreed to buy 11 MMcfd of gas for 14 years from PSI Inc., Omaha, for its 1.37 million kw cogeneration plant.

NEW YORK PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION approved a 25 year contract for the sale by Besicorp Group Inc.'s Beaver Falls, N.Y., cogeneration project of 79,000 kw of electricity to Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.