INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

Dec. 17, 1990
THE U.S.S.R. signed a contract with Greece's state gas company for construction of a 500 km long trunk pipeline to begin moving Soviet gas in 1993. Gas will be delivered from a point near Izmail on the Soviet-Romanian border, through Romania and Bulgaria to Thessalonika in northern Greece. Soviet crews will work on the trunk line. Quality of their work will determine Greece's later choice of partners for distribution lines in Athens and other cities. Greece in 1988 signed a 25 year

PIPELINES

THE U.S.S.R. signed a contract with Greece's state gas company for construction of a 500 km long trunk pipeline to begin moving Soviet gas in 1993. Gas will be delivered from a point near Izmail on the Soviet-Romanian border, through Romania and Bulgaria to Thessalonika in northern Greece. Soviet crews will work on the trunk line. Quality of their work will determine Greece's later choice of partners for distribution lines in Athens and other cities. Greece in 1988 signed a 25 year supply deal with the Soviets covering initial deliveries of 35 bcf/year.

PETROCHEMICALS

NOVA CORP, Calgary, canceled plans for a $2 billion expansion of its petrochemical complex at Joffre, Alta. Nova unit Novacor Chemicals Ltd. said the plant now is optimum size, given climate of competition for ethane feedstock. The project had been on hold. Alberta started moving to an open market for ethane in 1989.

HUELS AG, Marl, Germany, will base its planned 120,000 ton/year polyethylene plant on a process developed by Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Co. Inc. It is to be complete in 1993.

REPSOL QUIMICA SA raised styrene capacity at its Puertollano, Spain, plant to 120,000 tons/year from 100,000 tons/year at a cost of $25 million.

TITAN POLYETHYLENE (MALAYSIA) will build a 200,000 ton/year polyethylene plant in Johore state in southwestern Malaysia that will use Union Carbide's process. Scheduled for completion in 1993, the complex will have linear low density PE and high density PE capacity and include an ethylene cracker and polypropylene plant.

REFINING

PILIPINAS SHELL PETROLEUM CORP. will invest $83.9 million to hike storage capacity at its 65,800 b/d Tabangao refinery, Batangas City, Philippines. The project will include construction of a jetty and another island berth.

SAUDI ARAMCO'S 530,000 b/d refinery at Ras Tanura is likely to run at reduced capacity for at least 2-3 months following a major fire that seriously damaged one of the two distillation units. A leaking pipe was responsible for the blaze. Throughput will be down by 50% at first but deliveries will be maintained from the large stocks at the refinery (OGJ, Dec. 10, p. 30).

TWO PERSONS WERE KILLED and eight badly injured in an explosion at the Novo-Ufa refinery in Ufa, U.S.S.R. The explosion occurred in a high octane gasoline unit, purchased from France, that was recently restarted after repairs. The Ufa refining center in the Volga-Ural area's Bashkir Autonomous Republic is believed to be the U.S.S.R.'s biggest at estimated throughput of 720,000 b/d.

PETROGAL will use process equipment developed by UOP, Des Plaines, III., in a major expansion of Petrogal's refinery in Sines, Portugal. UOP equipment included is a 35,000 b/sd fluid catalytic cracking unit, gas concentration unit, C3-C4 splitter column, and power recovery system.

BP OIL started up the first Cyclar unit at its Grangemouth, Scotland, refinery. The unit uses UOP technology to convert directly propane and butanes into high quality aromatics and hydrogen for use as petrochemical feedstocks or gasoline blending.

EXPLORATION

TEXACO EXPLORATION EL JEM TUNISIA INC. plans to drill at least one exploratory well and acquire seismic data on the 987,000 acre El Jem block 150 km south of Tunis under a farmout from Conquest Exploration Tunisia Inc. Subject to ratification by Tunisia's parliament, Texaco will acquire 60% interest in El Jem and become operator in exchange for spending as much as $10 million in the 3 year exploratory period.

ELL AQUITAINE ECUADOR 1 Wanke discovery well tested 1,400 b/d of oil from Ml Napo on Block 14 of Ecuador's Oriente region. It is the first wildcat on acreage acquired through a service contract with state owned Petroleos del Ecuador in 1987. Elf's partners are Brazil's Braspetro 35% and Argentina's Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscalis 25%.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. gauged 49 MMcfd of gas and 3,335 b/d of condensate from two zones in a discovery well on South Umbaraka concession in Egypt's western desert. It is the third significant find on the permit since 1989.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

MARATHON PETROLEUM SYRIA LTD. 5 Ash Shaer delineation well flowed 2,980 b/d of 39 gravity oil on drillstem test of Mulussa D pay at 9,029-9,101 ft on its Palmyra block 150 miles northeast of Damascus. The well is 4 miles east of 1 Ash Shaer discovery well, which flowed 47 MMcfd of gas, and 6 miles northeast of 3 Ash Shaer, which flowed 40 MMcfd.

STATE ENERGY COMMISSION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (Secwa) will buy 125 bcf of gas during 10 years from Hadson energy Ltd,'s Harriet gas gathering project off Western Australia for $90 million. Secwa has an option to buy 55 bcf more at the end of the first term, subject to approval by Hadson and joint venture partners. The gas will move through a 60 mile, 12 in. pipeline to Secwa's onshore mainline system, with deliveries to begin in mid-1992 at 35 MMcfd.

COMPANIES

ERCROS SA reached agreement with unions to restructure its fertilizer unit Fes-Enfersa. The unions accepted a 5 year restructuring program, costing $700 million, that includes closing six plants and a 2,000 person cut in the workforce.

U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK is guaranteeing a $25 million line of credit enabling Colombia's state owned Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos to maintain its petroleum refineries and facilities throughout Colombia. Ecopetrol will use the credit with Algemene Bank Nederland NV's Miami branch to finance $29.4 million in U.S. goods and services. Ecopetrol will make a 15% cash payment on each purchase and finance the 85% balance during 5 years.

SOFREGAZ, the engineering unit of Gaz de France, is establishing a subsidiary in Houston that initially will promote the company's expertise with underground storage in salt caverns in Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. Sofregaz has also signed a joint venture with Coastal Corp. unit ANR Storage, Detroit, which specializes in underground gas storage.

COSEKA RESOURCES LTD. creditors and shareholders approved a debt rescheduling agreement. North Canadian Oils Ltd., which owns 46% of Coseka, will acquire the rest of the company and forgive $32 million (Canadian) in debt. Unsecured creditors will forgive an additional $31 million and accept payment of 400 on the dollar. The plan will be submitted Dec. 18 for court approval.

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