U.S. BRIEFS

ACQUISITIONS

NYCAL CORP., Washington, D.C., agreed to buy about 76% of the stock in Woodbine Petroleum Inc., Dallas, as well as oil and gas leases from Claremont Petroleum (USA) Pty. Ltd. and Moage Inc. for $5 million. Nycal will pay $3.5 million in cash and assume $1.5 million of bank debt. Closing is scheduled Oct. 1.

CAPITAL ENERGY INC., Los Angeles, will offer to buy with its stock about $11 million in assets of 47 oil and gas partnerships and other assets of Argas Inc., a privately held Kansas firm. The partnership assets it hopes to acquire include royalty and working interests in oil and gas leases, gas gathering systems, and processing plants in Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

GOVERNMENT

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE released a final supplemental environmental impact statement analyzing the cumulative effects of offshore leasing on migratory species in the Pacific Ocean and off Alaska during 1987-92. A U.S. appeals court ordered MMS to draft the analysis in December 1988. Interior Sec. Manuel Lujan will review the report and decide if changes to the 5 year leasing plan are needed.

PIPELINES

TEXACO TRADING & TRANSPORTATION sued Florida Alliance, an organization trying to halt Colonial Pipeline's laying of a 12 in., 47 mile connecting pipeline from Bainbridge, Ga., to Lloyd, Fla. Texaco, which plans a $5 million storage terminal near Lloyd, seeks records it claims show the Alliance paid $100,000 to a private investigative firm.

CONNECTICUT ENERGY CORP., Bridgeport, Conn., sold its 2.4% interest in the Iroquois Gas Transmission System back to the Iroquois partnership, but its Southern Connecticut Gas Co. unit still plans to buy 35 MMcfd from Iroquois starting winter 1991. Long Island Lighting Co. bought a 1% partnership interest subject to regulatory approval.

LECLEDE GAS CO., St. Louis, agreed to buy as much as 55 MMcfd of gas from ESCO Energy Inc. after ESCO's Missouri Pipeline Co. unit and Leclede complete a $17 million, 56 mile expansion of their systems in Franklin County, Mo. Leclede also plans to buy 15 MMcfd during Sept. 1-Nov. 1, then 25 MMcfd from Nov. 1 until completion of the pipeline expansions, scheduled for fourth quarter 1991.

CONEX, St. Paul, Minn., will extend its refined fuels pipeline 246 miles from Minot to Fargo, N.D., to connect with the Williams Pipe Line system. The 8 in., 12,000 b/d capacity extension will supply agricultural co-ops diesel fuel and gasoline from Cenex's Laurel, Mont., refinery. Construction will begin in spring 1991 and is to be complete in spring 1992 at a cost of about $30 million.

VIRGINIA NATURAL GAS INC. received Virginia State Corporation Commission clearance to extend service into Essex, Mathews, Middlesex, and King and Queen counties, Va., through extensions of a proposed 120 mile intrastate pipeline from the Hampton Roads area to northern Virginia.

COMPANIES

EXPLORATION CO., San Antonio, acquired more than 30,000 acres of Cretaceous Austin chalk trend oil and gas leases in Zavala and Maverick counties, Tex., from Spectrum Resources Inc. Exploration Co. exchanged 20,205,051 shares of its stock for the leases and received $500,000 cash in the purchase.

COM-TEK RESOURCES INC., Denver, plans to merge with Crescent Oil & Gas Corp., also of Denver, by first issuing 5.6 million shares of Com-Tek stock to acquire 51% of Crescent. The merger, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be complete in January 1991 when Com-Tek will issue 5.4 million more shares to acquire Crescent's remaining stock. The firms hope to sign a contract by Sept. 30.

SEARCH EXPLORATION INC., Plano, Tex., amended its Texas state court lawsuit against Marshall Exploration Inc., Marshall, Tex., to include charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (OGJ, June 4, p. 44). Search said several Dallas investors in 143 disputed wells joined the suit as plaintiffs.

EXPLORATION

PINNACLE ROYALTY & OPERATING CO.'S 2 G.W. Hatch in Dimmit County, Tex., flowed 1,758 b/d of oil and 984 Mcfd of gas through a 32/64 in. choke with 460 psi flowing tubing pressure. It was drilled to about 6,794 ft true vertical depth with 3,533 ft of displacement in Cretaceous Austin chalk. Wainoco Oil Corp., Houston, owns a 12.5% interest in the well and the 3,800 acre lease.

WASHINGTON'S State Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, is taking applications for its spring 1991 sale of oil and gas leases on state land. No firm date for the sale has been set.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO.'S 1 J.M. Frost Estate discovery in Chambers County, Tex., flowed 3.096 MMcfd of gas and 217 b/d of condensate through a 10/64 in. choke with 5,310 psi flowing tubing pressure from perforations at 10,517-527 ft. The joint venture of Phillips, Hyundai Corp. of Korea, and Opicoil America Inc. of Taiwan plans a second well at the site, about 50 miles east of Houston, in September.

REFINING

VALERO REFINING CO. let a contract valued at more than $200 million to Fluor Daniel for engineering, procurement, and construction services for a 20,000 b/d hydrotreater, 27,000 b/d continuous catalytic reformer, and 25,000 b/d hydrocracker at its Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery. Engineering is under way, with project completion scheduled for early 1992.

ARCO let contract to Bechtel Corp. for addition of a diesel hydrotreater and other upgrade work at its 178,000 b/d Cherry Point refinery near Bellingham, Wash. Bechtel's Los Angeles regional office will begin engineering and procurement in October.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

EXPLORATION CO. OF LOUISIANA INC., Lafayette, 5-A Ruben Gonzalez in South Texas' Berry R. Cox field flowed 10.164 MMcfd of gas through a 16/64 in. choke with 6,399 psi flowing tubing pressure. The well, drilled to 14,500 ft, cut 96 ft of net pay in Tertiary lower Wilcox Hinnant 7-A.

ALTERNATE FUELS

INTERCHEM INDUSTRIES INC., Vancouver, B.C., completed a 1.7 million gal/year synthetic fuel oil plant in Mountain View, southern Missouri, and expects to finish testing in September and begin deliveries in October. It will convert 13,000 tons/year of waste wood from a Mountain View hardwood flooring plant into fuel oil and charcoal. Interchem's joint venture partner is Midwest Pacific Inc.