U.S. BRIEFS

EXPLORATION

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE released a draft environmental impact statement for OCS Sale 126 off Alaska scheduled for August 1991. The proposed sale area consists of 4,319 blocks covering more than 23 million acres of the Chukchi Sea in water depths of 100-300 ft. Comments on the draft EIS, available from the MMS office in Anchorage, Alas., will be accepted until Sept. 11.

MARKETING

TEXACO REFINING & MARKETING INC. will build 10 prototype single bay oil change outlets at Texaco salaried operated stations in Phoenix and Tulsa as part of its Star Lube test program. Scheduled for completion by yearend, the glass enclosed Star Lube structures will use old oil from customers' cars to power the buildings' heaters in winter. Five will be built in each test city at stations with existing self-serve gasoline, car wash, and convenience store facilities.

PROCESSING

AMOCO CHEMICAL CO. let contract to John Brown E&C, Houston, to build a third polypropylene unit at its Chocolate Bayou plant near Alvin, Tex., where it also plans to expand ethylene/propylene capacity (OGJ, Aug. 6, p. 35). Engineering on the polypropylene project began in June. It is scheduled for first quarter 1992 start-up. The new unit will produce 300 million lb/year of homopolymers and impact copolymers, boosting the Chocolate Bayou plant's total polymer production to more than 1.2 billion lb/year.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

EVERGREEN RESOURCES INC., Denver, acquired a 40% interest in 71 oil and gas wells on about 3,000 acres in southern Spindle field, Adams and Weld counties, Colo. The wells are producing a total of about 150 b/d and 400 Mcfd from Cretaceous Sussex at an average depth of 5,100 ft. Evergreen Operating Corp. will handle field operations.

EXXON CO. U.S.A. is seeking purchase bids for its interests in 11 oil and gas leases in Collier, Hendry, Lee, and Santa Rosa counties, Fla. The leases have 46 total active wells with average net sales of 3,849 b/d and 1,381 Mcfd. Bids are due Oct. 1 .

PARAMOUNT PETROLEUM CO. INC., Jackson, Miss., and Houston and Pacific Enterprises Oil Co., Houston, tested their 1 Cochran 14-5 in Jones County, Miss., at 245 b/d of oil and 70 Mcfd of gas through a 15/64 in. choke with 437 psi flowing tubing pressure from perforations at 14,528-547 ft in Jurassic Cotton Valley. The well, drilled to 15,255 ft on the Four Fork prospect, established a deeper pay for Blackburn field.

ENSERCH EXPLORATION PARTNERS LTD. stimulated and recompleted 1 Zboril-Bourland and 1 J.E. Naiser Estate wells in Tertiary Lower Yegua sands in Wharton County, Texas, increasing production from eight wells in Mott Slough field to 86 MMcfd of gas and 2,200 b/d of condensate. Seven Mott Slough completions have been gravel packed. Enserch, which discovered the field in 1988, owns a 100% interest in five Mott Slough wells and an 87% in the rest.

EBCO U.S.A. INC., Oklahoma City, will hold a no minimum price oil and gas lease sale in Oklahoma City Aug. 30-31 at which more than 1,000 leases in 16 states will be offered. EBCO said more than 400 U.S. producers and operators will attend. Major sellers are Arco Oil & Gas Co., Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., Devon Energy Co., PetroCorp, Snyder Oil Corp., and Hallwood Energy.

BAKER HUGHES' rig count for the first week of August showed a decline of 30, to 966 active rigs, from the previous week. The number of rigs in Texas decreased by 17, New Mexico by 11, Oklahoma by 8, Louisiana by 5, and California and Mississippi 2 each.

PIPELINES

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT'S Research and Special Programs Administration plans a rulemaking to require that gas compressor buildings with 50% or more of wall area enclosed be equipped with gas detection and alarm systems. It said the history of incidents at compressor stations indicates a potential for leaking gas to accumulate undetected inside some compressor buildings. It asked for comments on the rulemaking by Sept. 25.

GOVERNMENT

CALIFORNIA motorists began paying 5/gal more in state gasoline excise taxes Aug. 1 to fund an $18 billion plus, 10 year, highway and rail transit construction program approved by voters. The tax will increase 1/gal each Jan. 1, beginning in 1991, to 18/gal by 1994.

CLEAN AIR WORKING GROUP said the Clean Air legislation in Congress will cost the U.S. $51-91 billion/year, depending on which Senate or House provisions are incorporated in the final bill. CAWG, an industry coalition, said the total could be even higher because the cost of some measures, such as air toxics reductions in motor fuels, can't be estimated, and benefits from the legislation are only $14-16 million.

NATURAL GAS

AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION'S 1989 industrial and electric utility fuel switching survey showed a net gain in gas load of about 66 bcf, up from a net loss of 60 bcf in 1988. In the industrial market, 35 bcf of load was switched from residual fuel oil to gas and 69 bcf from gas to resid, and 18 bcf was switched from coal to gas while 15 bcf went from gas to coal. Utilities switched 143 bcf from resid to gas and 52 bcf to resid.

MESA LP, Dallas, reported its average gas price for the second quarter was $1.39/Mcf, the firm's lowest second quarter average in 11 years.

GENERAL MOTORS CORP. will build light duty trucks fueled by compressed natural gas at the rate of at least 1,000/year under a $935,000 program backed by a combine made up of the Texas Land Office and 10 gas companies in Texas, California, and Colorado. GM will start production in January 1991. PAS Inc. will develop and install the fuel system. Group funding covers design, engineering, and development for the fuel system, engine testing, and development of manufacturing methods.

COMPANIES

LONE STAR STEEL CO., Dallas, filed a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization in Dallas bankruptcy court. If accepted by creditors, it calls for Lone Star to pay about 61 % of allowed prepetition claims, parent Lone Star Technologies Inc. to retain 100% ownership, and unsecured creditors committee litigation to be dismissed. Lone Star will commit as much as $36 million to finance the plan.

COMMODITIES

NOW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE set an overall daily futures and options volume record Aug. 3 of 293,167 contracts, topping the 292,178 traded Dec. 17, 1987. Futures contracts also set a daily volume record at 248,651 contracts, including a record 2,050 gas contracts.