U.S. BRIEFS

REFINING

EXXON CO. U.S.A. agreed to spend $2.8 million to upgrade the wastewater treatment system at its Bayonne, N.J., refinery in settlement of a Clean Water Act lawsuit. The suit, filed in a Newark federal court by the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and Friends of the Earth, alleged Exxon violated its permit for wastewater discharges into Kill Van Kull waterway.

COASTAL CHEM INC., Cheyenne, Wyo., plans to start up a 4,000 b/d methyl tertiary butyl ether plant in second quarter 1992. It will use Phillips Petroleum Co.'s Steam Active Reforming process to convert isobutane into isobutylene feedstock.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY issued a final rule requiring an 80% reduction in the sulfur content of diesel fuel, not a proposed rule as reported earlier (OGJ, Aug. 20, p. 40). The rule was published in the Aug. 21 Federal Register.

CONOCO INC. let contract to Bechtel Corp. to provide engineering and procurement services for a delayed coker unit and revamp wastewater treatment and sulfur removal units at its Billings, Mont., refinery. Bechtel Construction Co. will conduct the work. The $140 million project will aim to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.

PIPELINES

ENDEVCO OIL & GAS CO., Dallas, and R. Lacy Inc., Longview, Tex., formed Cardinal Joint Venture. The 50-50 venture will use capacity on more than 100 miles of Lacy owned pipeline systems in Gregg, Rusk, and Panola counties, Tex., to transport mainly third party gas that is subject to frequent sales interruptions.

COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION COS. plan to grant limited waivers of transportation penalties to shippers whose imbalances on its gas pipelines, as of Oct. 31, are less than 25 MMcf or less than 25% of average monthly volumes.

ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, began laying an 88 mile, $25 million gas gathering system in Hugoton field, Kansas. The 100 MMcfd capacity line, scheduled to be on stream Dec. 1, will have 77 miles of 418 in. pipe and 11 miles of 1020 in. pipe, along with a 16,000 hp compressor station to be built 10 miles west of Hugoton, Kan.

TANKERS

THE EXXON MEDITERRANEAN tanker, formerly named Exxon Valdez, passed its first dockside checkout and was cleared by National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. for sea travel (OGJ, July 30, p. 47).

COMPANIES

OFFSHORE PIPELINES INC, Houston, acquired a fabrication yard in Bahrain and 23 derrick, pipelay, and other offshore construction vessels operating in the Far East, Middle East, and Gulf of Mexico from Brown & Root International Inc. Brown & Root said the sale is part of a realignment in which it will reassign its marine construction management group to engineering, project management, and technology development. OPI valued the purchase at $80.2 million, while Brown & Root said it was worth $77.2 million.

TEXACO USA'S western exploration and production region plans to consolidate its Ventura, Calif., producing division with its Denver producing division and merge its Central and Southwest exploration divisions, with both offices to be in Denver. Texaco does not expect any layoffs to result from the moves.

ALTERNATE FUELS

ENVIRONMENTAL POWER CORP., Boston, let contract to Chas. T. Main Inc., also of Boston, to design and build a 45,000 kw waste coal fired cogeneration plant at Sunnyside, Utah. Main has begun licensing and permitting for the plant, scheduled to start up in 1992.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

APACHE CORP., Denver, agreed to buy all oil leases of CNG Producing Co., Pittsburgh, in Nevada, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana for $23.5 million. The purchase includes 41 wells in seven fields, with average total production of 7,500 b/d, along with about 100,000 acres of undeveloped leases in the Powder River basin of Wyoming and in the Railroad Valley of Nevada.

MAXUS ENERGY CORP., Dallas, began production of about 10-12 MMcfd from its Grand Isle Block 25 discovery well on State Lease 3523 off Louisiana. In addition to the five pay sands producing on Maxus' State Lease 12746, the new well cut four additional pay zones, one of which flowed 6.5 MMcfd.

ORYX ENERGY CO., Dallas, 2 Bracken Grandchildren Trust discovery well in Smith County, Tex., flowed 3.18 MMcfd of gas and 158 b/d of condensate through a 14/64 in. choke with 3,550 psi flowing tubing pressure from perforations at 12,212-379 ft in Cretaceous Travis Peak. The well, drilled to 12,939 ft, is 3 miles north of Hazel Owens field and 10 miles southwest of Tyler.

GENERAL ATLANTIC RESOURCES INC., Denver, acquired interests in Alabama Ferry field in Leon County, East Texas, from an undisclosed seller for $5.75 million. It now owns or manages interests of about 8.4% in the field, which has been unitized for secondary recovery.

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE proposed a rule tightening protection for offshore workers against hydrogen sulfide releases. The change, published in the Aug. 15 Federal Register, sets standards for visual and audible warning systems, detection and monitoring, and sulfur dioxide detection and monitoring, all consistent with revised Occupational Safety and Health Administration hydrogen sulfide exposure limits.

OKC LP, Dallas, and partners plan to build a 20 slot drilling/production platform for their South Pass Block 86 development project off Louisiana. They have sought bids from six contractors for the jacket and related facilities.

NEW YORK STATE'S Department of Environmental Conservation ordered Desert Gas Exploration Co., Fredonia, N.Y., to suspend oil and gas production from its New York wells for failure to comply with a July 1989 consent order. The order required remediation of certain wells to conform with state standards, payment of penalties for noncompliance, and posting of a well plugging bond.

NOMECO OIL & GAS CO., and Patrick Petroleum Co., both of Jackson, Mich., each bought a 12.5% interest in Linder Oil Co.'s 1 J.B. Levert Land Co. well in Chacahoula field, LaFourche Parish, La., for $1.3 million each. The well has reserves of 220,000 bbl of oil equivalent, and the firms plan more development of the field in early 1991.