KUWAIT'S OIL EXPORT CAPABILITY 6 MONTHS AWAY

Kuwait National Petroleum Co.'s (KNPC's) 370,000 b/d Mina al-Ahmadi refinery should be fully operational again by June 1.

But Kuwait will have no export facilities for either crude or products for at least 6 months.

In developments in the campaign to kill hundreds of wild wells in Kuwait:

Blowout control crews report a faster pace of killing wild wells. An official with Wild Well Control Inc., Spring, Tex., confirmed that his company's crews are killing one or two blowouts a day. "We have completed killing 36 wells, 15 or 16 of which were on fire," he said. "But we don't know whether water is available in all the areas where crews are working."
KNPC unit Kuwait Petroleum Co. (KPC) last week let contract to Pride Petroleum Services Inc., Houston, to supply service rigs and crews to help regain control of wild wells.
Pakistani officials claim the country's climate has been harmed by wells on fire in Kuwait and Iraq. Soot from burning wells has increased cloudiness over Pakistan and caused a black, oily rain in the southwest province of Baluchistan, government officials said. The result has been lower temperatures and frequent rain during Pakistan's summer, contend officials of Pakistan's science and technology ministry, There were earlier reports of black rain in Iran and black snow in India's Himalayan reaches that were attributed to the burning wells.

On efforts to combat the massive oil spills in the Persian Gulf:

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait let contracts to Martech, Anchorage, Alas., for spill cleanup.
Japan agreed to send minesweepers to the Persian Gulf to support spill cleanup efforts. It is the first such military deployment by that country outside Japanese territory since World War 11.

Japan's military plans to send four minesweepers along with a support ship and supply vessel. As many as 1,000 mines have been reported in the gulf.

So far, the U.S., U.K., Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, and Netherlands have sent minesweepers to the area.

The Japanese move came after Arabian Oil Co. (AOC), a Japanese group that operates Kuwaiti offshore oil fields, asked the government to participate in the cleanup effort. AOC said none of the minesweepers currently assigned to the gulf are clearing mines near its loading facility at Khafji.

EXPORTS STYMIED

Muhsin Khaja, KNPC's general manager for refinery operations, said even if wells were producing and refineries working, exports could not occur.

A survey of export facilities showed the Mina al-Ahmadi piers had received less war damage than piers at Mina Abdullah, he said. The al-Ahmadi north pier had been used to import products for domestic use.

The al-Ahmadi north pier could not be used for exports because its pumping facilities had been badly damaged. The south pier was badly damaged, and the Sea Island loading terminal was damaged almost beyond repair.

It will take at least 6 months to get facilities ready for exports, he said.

KPC expects to have about 50,000 b/d of production available to provide feedstock for electrical power generation by mid-May. The oil will come from the southern portion of Burgan field.

PRIDE CONTRACT

U.S. military C5 cargo planes last week airlifted seven Pride swabbing units and 15 Pride employees to Kuwait City.

"Those planes are refueled in the air, and they're going directly to Kuwait City so there will be no problems with clearing customs in Saudi Arabia, as were experienced by well control companies," a Pride official said.

He said company crews were expected to move into the Kuwaiti oil fields late last week. The rigs are working in pairs, with one rig held in reserve.

"Each unit is equipped with a spooling drum, and each pair is connected by 15,000 ft of wireline," Pride said. "We will use wireline like a crosscut saw to cut through casing and wellheads, and the firefighters will move in and extinguish the fires."

To prepare wellsites for Pride crews, firefighters are expected to dig around burning wellheads to reach undamaged sections of pipe where cuts can be made. Pride officials didn't know which fields company crews would be sent to first.

MARTECH CONTRACTS

Martech was first invited by Saudi officials to the Persian Gulf early in February to conduct a site assessment of the gulf oil spills and train local workers in health and safety matters related to oil recovery,

In mid-February, Martech began work under a second contract to convert a natural lagoon into a major oil collection site. The idea was to protect the world's biggest seawater desalination plant at Jubail.

Martech lengthened and deepened the lagoon and breached a sand bar several times to allow oil to flow through. It also improved coastal access roads.

Martech provided field supervision for local cleanup crews working for Saudi Aramco Oil Co. on beaches at Manifah and Safinayah in northern Saudi Arabia.

Under a third contract, signed Mar, 19, Martech was to provide two 51 person cleanup crews in the Dawhat Brice and Ras Az Zawr coastal wilderness areas. That work is to be extended to the Dawhat Musallamiyah area covering about 80 km of shoreline.

The expanded program will get under way as site assessments are completed.

In addition, Kuwait let contract to Martech for site assessments at the country's sewer treatment plants. The work, which began the first week of March, is expected to result in a long term contract, Martech said.