INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

Aug. 27, 1990
ULTRAMAR PLC of the U.K. let a $212 million contract to Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Ltd. of South Korea to build three crude oil tankers for Canadian unit Ultramar Canada Inc. They will service the Ultramar Quebec refinery on the St. Lawrence River. The 148,500 metric ton vessels with 1 million bbl capacity will be ice strengthened and double hulled. Two are scheduled for 1992 delivery, the third in 1993.

TANKERS

ULTRAMAR PLC of the U.K. let a $212 million contract to Samsung Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Ltd. of South Korea to build three crude oil tankers for Canadian unit Ultramar Canada Inc. They will service the Ultramar Quebec refinery on the St. Lawrence River. The 148,500 metric ton vessels with 1 million bbl capacity will be ice strengthened and double hulled. Two are scheduled for 1992 delivery, the third in 1993.

PETROCHEMICALS

A JOINT VENTURE, Petrokimia Nusantara Interindo was formed by four concerns to build Indonesia's first polyethylene plant, in Merak, West Java, at a cost of $300 million. The plant, with design capacity of 400,000 tons/year, is to be on stream by yearend 1992. Venture partners are Petrokimia of Indonesia, British Petroleum Co. plc, Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd., and Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. (Japan).

COMPANIES

ULTRAMAR CANADA INC., Montreal, agreed to buy an 82,300 b/d refinery at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, two storage terminals, 200 service stations in Atlantic Canada, and an undisclosed volume of crude oil and product inventory from Imperial Oil Ltd. for about $115 million. Imperial was required by the Canadian government to sell the assets as a condition of its $5 billion takeover of Texaco Canada Inc. in 1989. The sale is subject to approval by Investment Canada.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission signed loan agreements with a group of banks led by Commerz Bank, Frankfurt, to raise 250 million deutschmarks through public offering of bonds in the German capital market. The bonds carry a 9.5% coupon with issue price of 100.625%.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM (CALEDONIA) LTD. will transfer its U.K. headquarters to Aberdeen from London. The reorganization will involve the transfer of 66 London jobs to Aberdeen, where the staff will increase to about 600. The company's government and partner relations, public affairs, and tax departments will remain in London, along with the corporate treasury, crude oil sales, and marine transportation functions.

IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES PLC sold its 24.9% interest in U.K. independent Enterprise Oil plc for 2679.6 million ($1.32 billion). The shares were bought by two London brokers who placed the stock with a number of institutional investors.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

RANGER OIL LTD.'S appraisal well 48/18b-9 in Anglia field of the U.K. North Sea flowed 35 MMcfd of gas. Horizontal displacement is 2,940 ft. Development is planned later this year. Interests are Ranger, Calgary, 35.628%, Conoco Developments Ltd. 31.25%, Elf Oil & Gas Ltd. 16.46%, Amerada Hess (E&P) Ltd. 12.83%, and Triton North Sea Operators Ltd. 3.832%.

PETRO-CANADA, Calgary, wants to sell its interests in two oil fields in Alberta and British Columbia. For sale are a 34.3% interest in Boundary Lake Unit 1 in Northeast British Columbia and a 14% interest in Nipisi Gilwood Unit 1 in North Central Alberta. Buyers can bid for minimum interests of 1% at Boundary Lake and 0.5% at Nipisi Gilwood, with offers due by Oct. 30.

A JOINT VENTURE of Bridge Oil Ltd. and Petroz NL signed a $45 million (Australian) agreement for sale of 14.25 bcf of gas from its Surat basin fields in Southeast Queensland to Queensland Metals Corp. Ltd., Pancontinental Resources, and Radex Australia to fuel a magnesia export plant under construction at Rockhampton, Queensland. Supply under the 10 year contract will move through a 100 km spur to the government pipeline from Surat to Gladstone, Queensland. Tenders are out for construction of the line.

A NORWEGIAN ACCOMMODATION PLATFORM capsized off the Danish-German coast in the North Sea, about 47 miles west of Sylt, Germany. All 49 crewmen aboard were rescued by ships after jumping into the water. The platform, leased by Phillips Petroleum Co., broke away while being towed during a storm.

GAS PROCESSING

WESTCOAST ENERGY INC., Vancouver, let a $10 million contract to Fluor Daniel for process design, detailed engineering, and procurement for expansion of its gas processing plant near Fort St. John, B.C. Involved are debottlenecking to hike capacity to 680 MMcfd from 575 MMcfd and adding another sulfur recovery unit to cut sulfur emissions by about half. Engineering is under way, with completion set for late 1991.

PIPELINES

LAGOVEN SA AND MARAVEN SA are spending more than $50 million to link Venezuela's two biggest refineries with 17 km of crude and products pipelines. Lagoven operates the 420,000 b/d Amuay refinery and Maraven the 235,000 b/d Cardon refinery, both in western Venezuela.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM (CALEDONIA) LTD. reported corrosion in a 1/4 mile section of its 112 mile, 200,000 b/d U.K. North Sea pipeline to Flotta terminal. The corrosion was found by pig survey about 6 miles northeast of Claymore platform on Block 14/19. Oxy planned to shut down the line for 2 weeks beginning Aug. 23 to install new pipe.

URENGOY-PETROVSK PIPELINE caught fire near Kuibyshev, U.S.S.R., after gas leaking from a 1.5 m pipe ignited. Fire fighters closed off the line and brought the fire under control about a day after it was reported by nearby villagers who saw the smoke. Tass said officials blamed the leak on recent heavy rains that made surrounding ground sink.

EXPLORATION

FINA EXPLORATION MINH HAI acquired industry's first seismic option off Viet Nam. Covering Blocks 45, 49, and 50 and parts of Blocks 46, 51, 53, 54, and 55, the agreement with Petrovietnam allows Fina to select an area of about 11,000 sq km, subject to a production sharing contract, after completion of a seismic survey in about 18 months. Fina also is a partner with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group off Danang, where the first in a three well drilling program has started.

NIPPON MINING CO., Tokyo, and Australia's Commond Petroleum Holdings plan two wildcats by yearend 1991 on a 6,000 sq km concession area in Central Papua New Guinea, about 300 km from Port Moresby.

REFINING

A STUDENTS' BLOCKADE halted shipments of crude oil to India's refineries at Bongaigaon, Barauni, Guwahati, and Digboi last week. The All-Assam Students Union put up a week-long blockade to protest government failure to implement an accord ending civil strife in Assam and what it called a conspiracy to boost Assam oil production to feed the Barauni plant. New Delhi denied the latter claim.

Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.