INDUSTRY BRIEFS

REFINING

MOBIL CORP. unit Mobil Oil Australia Ltd. is replacing a Thermofor catalytic cracker at its 103,000 b/cd Altona, Victoria, refinery with a 23,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker and auxiliary units. The project will help improve gasoline and distillate yield.

MOBIL OIL CORP. let a $40 million contract to Serv-Tech Inc., Houston, to build and manage construction of the clean fuels project at its 127,000 b/cd Torrance, Calif., refinery. Work is scheduled for completion in mid-1995.

CHEVRON U.S.A. PRODUCTS CO. let an $80 million contract to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., for engineering, procurement, construction, and construction management services on two projects at its 235,000 b/cd Richmond, Calif., refinery. Work on the first one calls for a 12,000 b/d Penhex isomerization unit and 46,000 b/d naphtha splitter to increase octane. The second calls for a 25,000 b/d aromatics saturation unit and 49,000 b/d reformate splitter to produce components for reformulated gasolines.

PETROCHEMICALS

QATAR FERTILIZER CO., Umm Said, Qatar, let a $400 million contract to Uhde GmbH, Dortmund, Germany, for a fertilizer complex at Umm Said. Terms call for basic and detailed engineering, supply of equipment, civil works, erection, and commissioning of a 1,500 metric ton/day ammonia plant, 2,000 ton/day urea granulation plant, 20,000 ton ammonia tank farm, 100,000 tons of urea storage capacity, and a 110 ton/hr desalination plant. Work is to begin in second quarter 1994, with completion by yearend 1996.

DOW CHEMICAL CO., Midland, Mich., and Cray Research Inc., Eagan, Minn., teamed up to advance supercomputer use for chemical process engineering. Terms of the 3 year deal give Dow access to a Cray C92A supercomputer scheduled for installation soon at Cray's Eagan site.

MOBIL CORP. unit Mobil Oil Singapore Pte. Ltd. started up a $700 million refining/petrochemical complex at its 235,000 b/cd Jurong, Singapore, refinery. The new complex includes a 575,000 metric ton/year aromatics plant, continuous catalytic reformer, and catalytic hydrodesulfurizer.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM SINGAPORE CHEMICALS (PTE.) LTD. will build, own, and operate a 450 million metric lb/year linear polyethylene plant for its part in expansion of a petrochemical complex on Pulau Ayer Merbau Island off Singapore (OGJ, Mar. 7, Newsletter). The plant, previously stalled by permit delays, will be next to an existing 400 million lb/year high density polyethylene plant Phillips owns, Work is to start this year, with plant start-up in first quarter 1997.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. unit Phillips Puerto Rico Corp. Inc. let an engineering contract to Fluor Daniel Williams Bros. to increase paraxylene capacity at its Guayama, P.R., petrochemical plant to 675 million lb/year by yearend from 525 million lb/year.

UNION CARBIDE CORP. will expand vinyl acetate monomer capacity to 690 million lb/year from 550 million lb/year at its Texas City, Tex., petrochemicals complex. The expansion, due on stream in second quarter 1995, is part of a multiphase expansion to increase capacity to 750 million lb/year.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TEXAS GAS PRODUCTION in 1993 reached almost 5.61 tcf, the state's highest output in 5 years and 3% more than the 1992 total, the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) reported. TRC estimated the 158 bcf production increase generated $1 billion of economic activity, added $316 million of wellhead revenue, and boosted tax collections by $40 million.

NORSK HYDRO AS'S development plan for a thin oil zone in West Troll field's gas province in the Norwegian North Sea proposes a 1.4 billion kroner ($190 million), four well subsea development tied back to West Troll platform. Production is to start in October 1996, 9 months after start-up of West Troll.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM INTERNATIONAL CORP. ASIA let a contract worth more than $70 million to Halliburton Energy Services to provide integrated products and services as well as project management for those services for Xijiang oil field development off China. It i Halliburton's first major integrated package in China.

DEKALB ENERGY CO. plans $28 million (Canadian) in capital expenditures this year vs. $19.5 million in 1993. Its largest project will be construction of a plant in Alberta's Godin area to process sour gas. Work is expected to be completed by November.

COMPANIES

NUMAC ENERGY INC., Edmonton, says a successful takeover bid for Co-enerco Resources Ltd., Calgary, would create a merger with assets of $1.1 billion (Canadian). Numac, controlled by Hong Kong investors, is offering Co-enerco shareholders a 38% premium on current share prices, payable in Numac shares or cash.

NOVA CORP. OF ALBERTA directors approved a proposed corporate reorganization plan (OGJ, Nov. 1, 1993, p. 36) subject to shareholder, court, and regulatory approvals. Operations are to be split into four companies, each owned by new public company Nova Corp.: Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. (formerly Nova Corp. of Alberta), Nova Gas Services Ltd., Novacor International Inc., and Novacor Chemicals Ltd.

NOVA GAS CLEARINGHOUSE LTD. (NLC) bought Great West Energy Ltd., Mississauga, Ont., from Bow Valley Energy Inc., Calgary, for an undisclosed price. NLC, jointly owned by Nova and Natural Gas Clearinghouse, Houston, markets 140 MMcfd of gas. Nova said it plans to expand Great West Energy marketing operations.

AMOCO CANADA PETROLEUM LTD., Calgary, withdrew from Prism Sulphur Corp. sulfur export cooperative. Shell Canada Ltd. and Husky Oil Ltd. earlier disclosed plans to withdraw (OGJ, Feb. 7, p. 42). Amoco said it wants more control over marketing its sulfur. The departure of Shell, Amoco, and Husky cuts Prism supplies by 60% to 800,000 metric tons/year.

EXPLOPATION

TOTAL denied press reports it is pulling out of Yemen because of increasing civil unrest there. Total operates the East Shabwa block in the Hadramaut area and Jannah block in the Marib area. A number of oil and gas discoveries have been made in the two areas, where 30 wells have been drilled. At Shabwa, Total is preparing to conduct seismic surveys to delineate the Kharir field discovery and identify new prospects.

PAKISTAN awarded Tullow Oil plc, Dublin, an exploration license covering the East Kandhkot block. The 162 sq km tract lies in the middle Indus region next to Kandhkot and Qadirpur gas fields.

TOM BROWN INC., Midland, Tex., received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs for an option with the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indian tribes covering 400,000 acres on the Wind River reservation in Wyoming's Wind River basin. Terms call for Brown to acquire 40 sq miles of 3D seismic data during the next 2 years and drill four wells in a 4 year period.

ALASKA'S Department of Natural Resources called for comment from industry and the public on proposed lease Sale 85 in the Cook Inlet and Sale 86 in the western Beaufort Sea. Sale 85 is scheduled for July 1996, Sale 86 November 1996.

AMOCO (U.K.) EXPLORATION CO. tested its fourth discovery well on Block 49/23 in the U.K. North Sea. Its 9,450 ft Bell wildcat in 100 ft of water, 50 miles off Norfolk's northeast coast, flowed 54.8 MMcfd of gas with 1,702 psi flowing tubing pressure through a 7/64 in. choke. Operator Amoco and British Gas Exploration & Production Ltd. each hold a 30.77% interest in the well, Amerada Hess Ltd. 23.08%, and Enterprise Oil plc 15.38%.

CHINA started an exploration program in the East China Sea with Texaco Inc., Agip SpA, and Maersk Oil & Gas AS. The group is conducting seismic surveys 250 miles south of Shanghai on one of 18 blocks in a 26,000 sq mile area open to foreign companies.

PIPELINES

INTEC ENGINEERING INC., Houston, and H.C. Price Co., Anchorage, Alas., are conducting a 3 month joint industry study to develop a cost estimating system for 6-48 in. onshore pipeline installations in the former Soviet Union. Emphasis is on arctic regions.

COASTAL CORP. unit Coastal States Gas Transmission Co. plans to lay 26 miles of 20 in. gas pipeline from Bob West field to the Midcon Texas Pipeline System in South Texas. Line capacity will be as much as 350 MMcfd with compression, 200 MMcfd without compression. Work is expected to be complete before June 1. An oil pipeline break

Mar. 2 in the Volga region at Ufa, Russia, formed a 1/2 km long slick on the Belaya River. Workers built a dam to stop the slick's spread into the Kama and Volga rivers. Cause of the break is undetermined.

EUROPE-MAGHREB PIPELINES LTD. placed a 19 million ($28.5 million) order with British Steel's Hartlepool, U.K., mill for 100 km of 22 in. welded line pipe for the Strait of Gibraltar section of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline. The line will move gas from Algeria through Morocco to Spain. It is the mill's first large export order.

INTERPROVINCIAL PIPE LINE SYSTEM INC., Edmonton, plans to raise $500 million (Canadian) from a convertible subordinated debenture sale in its drive to acquire an 85% interest in Consumers Gas Co. Ltd., Toronto, from British Gas plc. Purchase will cost $1.2 billion. The rest of the financing will be provided by $200 million cash and issue of long term debt.

SUNSHINE PIPELINE CO., Tampa, filed 14 amendments to its application for the 545 mile Florida intrastate part of its proposed Sunshine Project gas pipeline. One of the main changes is deletion of an 82 mile extension to Okeechobee County from Polk County.

REPSOL EXPLORACION SA let an 8 million ($12 million) contract to Stena Offshore Ltd., Aberdeen, Scotland, for design, procurement, fabrication, and installation of a 17.5 km, 8 in. gas pipeline in Albatros field in the Bay of Biscay off northern Spain. A 17.8 km control umbilical and 400 m flexible riser will link the Vizcaya B4 subsea wellhead to the Gaviota platform. Work will be carried out between August and October using the Stena Apache and Stena Wellservicer vessels.

TRANSCONTINENTAL GAS PIPE LINE CORP. (TGPL), a unit of Transco Energy Co., Houston, received preliminary U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for a proposed 35 MMcfd 1994 expansion (SE94) of TGPL's southeast U.S. interstate pipeline system. SE94 is the first of a series of TGPL expansions in the Southeast expected to add 200 MMcfd of firm transportation capacity by winter 1996-97. Work on the SE94 expansion is to begin in June, with service beginning by winter 1994-95.

PACIFIC GAS TRANSMISSION CO., Portland, will implement hub services on its pipeline system through control of flows, including drawdown and increase of line pack inventories. Pacific Gas has no storage on its system. Hub services will include parking, imbalancing, title transfer, and redelivery options. The company has applied to FERC for tariffs for those services.

GAS PROCESSING

GPM GAS CORP., Houston, acquired Hobbs Processing Co. from Enron Corp. unit Enron Operations Corp. Terms aren't disclosed. Hobbs Processing will become a GPM unit and own the Hobbs, N.M., gas processing plant and 765 miles of gathering pipelines, related compression, and other equipment in Lea, Eddy, and Chaves counties, N.M.

VALERO NATURAL GAS PARTNERS LP agreed to buy, ship, and process gas from Shell Oil Co. units that will dedicate as much as 350 billion BTU/day of gas production in Starr, Brooks, and Hidalgo counties, Tex., to Valero for 1 0 years starting June 1 . Valero also will buy Shell's 48 mile, 16 in. Chaparro pipeline that links McAllen Ranch in Hidalgo County with Falfurrias in Brooks County.

CHEVRON U.K. LTD. and Conoco U.K. Ltd. let contract to Fluor Daniel Inc. to provide engineering, procurement, and construction management services for a $330 million, 750 MMcfd U.K. onshore gas processing plant. The plant will process gas from U.K. North Sea Britannia gas field. Work is scheduled for completion late in 1998.

NIGERIA'S Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. let contract to a joint venture of Westminster Dredging Co. Ltd., Hampshire, U.K., and Dredging International Tideway, Zwijndrecht, Netherlands, for site preparation for a plant to process gas from Escravos oil field off Southeast Nigeria. It's the first plant contract let in the first phase of a $483 million project to develop the field.

ALTERNATE FUELS

INSTITUTE OF GAS TECHNOLOGY, Chicago, and Shanghai Pacific Chemical Group unit Shanghai Coking & Chemical Plant General formed joint venture company Shanghai Zhihai Gasification Technology Development Ltd. in China. The venture will sell advanced technologies in gasification, coal gas purification, and enhancement of fuel gas heating value.