INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

COMPANIES

POCO PETROLE MS LTD. and Voyager Energy Ltd., both of Calgary, failed to agree on terms for a merger. The companies were unable to agree on an exchange ratio for valuation purposes that would have allowed them to trade each other's shares to make the deal. A successful merger would have created a company that would have been the 12th largest operator in the Canadian oil industry.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

REPSOL SA agreed to buy Conoco Inc.'s production interests in Egypt's Western Desert, subject to Egyptian government approval and partner preemptions. Conoco operates Khalda Petroleum and has a 50% interest in the Khaida concession, producing about 20,000 b/d, Conoco's partners are Phoenix Resources Co. 40% and South Korea's Samsung Group 10%. The deal does not include Conoco's Hurghada concession in Egypt's Eastern Desert.

MOBIL NORTH SEA LTD. received U.K. Department of Energy approval to develop with a single well a satellite structure to Ness field, which is produced through a subsea system tied back to Beryl field in the U.K. North Sea. Ness, with the lowest production costs in the North Sea, started up in 1987. The well will start up this summer at 2,500 b/d, rising to 5,000 b/d when water injection facilities are installed later this year.

ENTERPRISE OIL PLC'S 22/11-11 appraisal well extended Nelson oil field to the southeast in the U.K. North Sea. It flowed 9,392 b/d of 39 gravity oil with no water and 3.5 MMcfd of gas at a flowing wellhead pressure of 280 psi.

HARDY OIL & GAS PLC, London, increased its working interest in Harriet field and surrounding acreage off Western Australia to 8.4% from 7.5% by acquiring a 0.9% interest from another partner in the field, New World Oil & Development Pty Ltd.

A PARTNERSHIP of Ranger Oil Ltd. 50%, Czar Resources Ltd. 29%, Orbit Oil & Gas Ltd. 15%, and Frobisher Resources Ltd. 6% acquired gas leases in the Helmet area of Northeast British Columbia from Chevron Canada Resources for $2.1 million. The purchase covers 29,604 net acres, including interests in 17 producing and shut in gas wells.

GAS PROCESSING

REPSOL EXPLORACION SA let contract to Tecnicas Reunidas SA, Madrid, for engineering services for a 128 MMcfd compressor station at its Bermeo gas treatment plant in northern Spain, which handles gas from offshore Gaviota field. The unit is due on stream in 1991.

CORPOVEN SA let contract for about $8 million to Fluor Daniel for basic engineering and other services related to expansion of its gas processing complex at Jose, Venezuela. Involved are installation of a new 800 MMcfd gas processing plant and related pipeline, debottlenecking existing plants, and adding product storage tanks and a third fractionation train. Engineering is under way with project completion scheduled for early 1991.

PETROCHEMICALS

REPSOL PETROLEO SA is raising ethylene capacity at its Tarragona, Spain, complex to 455, 000 tons/year from 385,000 tons/year. Linde AG, West Germany, is providing engineering services for the expansion, due on stream in 1991.

FUTURES

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM EXCHANGE, London, reported trading rose to a new high of 619,553 contracts in July, a 32% increase from the 470,696 record set the previous month. Brent crude futures also set a record of 361,640 lots, compared with 264,004 lots traded the previous month.

COURTS

CANADA SOUTHERN PETROLEUM LTD. filed suit in Calgary against Esso Petroleum Canada, Mobil Canada, Columbia Gas Development of Canada Ltd., and Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. and its Dome Petroleum unit seeking damages and return of working interests in Kotaneelee field in Southeast Yukon Territory. Canada Southern said the defendants failed to market gas from the field. It plans to begin selling Kotaneelee gas to British Columbia Petroleum Corp. in November under a 1 year contract.

EXPLORATION

SANTA FE ENERGY CO. (ARGENTINA) and Perfiltra SA signed an exploration and production contract with Argentina's state owned Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales covering the 8,089 sq km Pirane area in Formosa province. Operator Santa Fe will shoot 205 line km of seismic surveys during an initial $2.6 million, 3 year program. It has a 4 year exploration option.

CHEVRON INTERNATIONAL LTD. (BOLIVIA) agreed with the Bolivian government to explore the 2.5 million acre Caipipendi block in the Andean foothills, about 200 miles south of Santa Cruz. During the contract's first 2 years, Chevron will conduct seismic and gravity surveys and geological field work. It may later drill wildcats, depending on seismic results.

MAXUS ENERGY CORP., Dallas, signed a production sharing contract covering more than 27 million acres in eastern Ethiopia. It agreed to spend at least $3.5 million, mostly for geological and geophysical studies, under the contract's 2 year first phase. There is no provision for a minimum number of wildcats. Maxus, which holds a 100% interest in the area, can extend the agreement after assessing seismic results.

TRANSPORTATION

NATIONAL SHIPPING CO. OF SAUDI ARABIA and Sabic Marketing Co. ordered nine tankers totaling 250,000 dwt from Storli of Norway to carry mostly petrochemicals.

SPAIN'S Empresa Nacional del Gas SA agreed to link its gas distribution system to the European network across the Pyrenees Mountains with a 44 mile, 24 in. line from Serrablo in northern Spain to Lacq, France. The project is to be complete in 1992.

CIA. ARRENDATARIA del Monopolio de Petroleos SA will lay two 10 in. oil products pipelines in Spain. A 159 mile line will run from Corunna to Vigo in northeastern Spain, and a 60 mile line will link Cartagena with Alicante on the Mediterranean coast. Both projects are to be complete in late 1991.

DET NORSKE STATS OLJESELSKAP AS let a $32.5 million contract to EB Consultant Norway AS for engineering, procurement, and construction supervision of a new condensate reception terminal at Karsto, north of Stavanger, to handle liquids from Sleipner gas field after April 1993. Sleipner condensate will be delivered at a peak rate of 75,000 b/d through a 140 mile, 20 in. pipeline to be laid in 1992. The unit will be integrated into the existing gas processing unit for the Statpipe project.