SPILLS A PIPELINE EXPLOSION Jan. 23 in Southeast Turkey caused a fire and 72,000 bbl crude oil spill near Cizre, close to Iraq. The pipeline moves crude to a Mediterranean terminal at Yamurtalik, Turkey, from Kirkuk oil field in northern Iraq. Damage was believed caused by guerilla bombing, officials of Turkey's state owned pipeline company Botas said.
AN ASHLAND OIL INC. barge spilled 143 bbl of unleaded gasoline Jan. 26 into Kentucky's Licking River near Cincinnati after the vessel was struck and set adrift by other drifting barges. At the time of the collision, the barge was tied up at Ashland's Covington, Ky., product terminal on the river.
MISSOURI'S Department of Natural Resources questioned why Clark Refining & Marketing waited 2 days before reporting a Jan. 16 leak of 5,700 bbl from a cracked storage tank that spilled 1,785-2,380 bbl of gasoline into the Mississippi River, The Associated Press reported from St. Louis. Clark said its workers were moving gasoline among the tanks Jan. 16, so an accurate measurement could not be made until Jan. 18, when the leak was confirmed.
A BRAZILIAN TANKER spilled 2,200 bbl of crude into the Atlantic Ocean Jan. 23 while it was taking on Campos basin crude from an offshore platform. An oil slick spread over a 35 mile area 60 miles from shore. A valve rupture or line break is the likely cause, Brazil's State Environmental Commission said.
NEW YORK'S Department of Environmental Conservation Director Thomas Jorling said the U.S. Coast Guard could have prevented the diesel spill off San Juan, P.R. (OGJ, Jan. 17, p. 28), if the Coast Guard had stopped the Morris J. Berman barge from passing inspection. The Coast Guard said the barge met all requirements in its biannual inspection for seaworthiness, despite a history of environmental problems.
EXPORTS-IMPORTS
IRAQ renewed trading its oil for goods and services from Jordan. Middle East Economic Survey said a trade agreement, originally signed during the Persian Gulf crisis in October 1990, calls for Iraq to deliver 50,000 b/d of crude oil and 25,000 b/d of fuel oil to Jordan. Half the crude is said to be supplied free, while the rest is charged at the price of Iraqi oil at the time of the original deal, about $16/bbl.
GAS PROCESSING
IMPERIAL OIL LTD. withdrew from the Alberta natural gas liquids project, backing away from an estimated $70-100 million (Canadian) group project in competition with Amoco Canada Petroleum Co. Ltd.'s NGL marketing in western Canada.
EXPLORATION
U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE dropped the Shelikof Strait area from a proposed lease sale in the Cook Inlet planning areas off Alaska. The draft environmental impact statement for the sale will cover 403 blocks on a combined 2 million acres vs. 3.7 million acres in the original proposal. The draft EIS will be delayed until late 1994. MMS also extended the comment period on the draft EIS to Feb. 28.
MMS extended until Mar. 9 the period in which it will receive comments on its proposals to change leasing policies in the central and western Gulf of Mexico. MMS is considering holding more frequent but smaller sales, as well as other changes (OGJ, Dec. 13, 1993, p. 64).
LEUCADIA NATIONAL CORP., New York, agreed to invest as much as $6 million in an eastern Siberia project with 50-50 partner Equity Oil Co., Salt Lake City, Utah. Their Symskaya Exploration Inc. joint venture has a 25 year exploration and development license on 1.1 million acres in the Krasnoyarsk region.
PAKISTAN granted an exploration license to a joint venture of state owned Oil & Gas Development Corp. 95% and domestic private company Zaver Petroleum Corp. 5% in the Attock and Rawalpindi districts of Punjab province. The venture will spend $12.2 million to acquire 200 line km of seismic data and drill two wildcats on 1,804 sq km Block 3372-4. Zaver is the first fully Pakistani owned private company to enter Pakistan oil and gas exploration.
ENVIRONMENT
U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a consent decree in federal court at Dallas to settle an action brought against an ethanol blender for an alleged 35 violations of the Clean Air Act's gasoline volatility requirements. Under terms of the decree, Tropicana Energy Co., Irving, Tex., agreed to a $1 million penalty to be paid out of its bankruptcy proceedings. Three other defendants will pay a civil penalty of $100,000.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
AMOCO TRINIDAD OIL CO. started gas production at the rate of 40 MMcfd from its Immortelle platform off Trinidad and Tobago. Flow is from one well. The Well Services Marine 3 modular rig is drilling a second well.
U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT proposes to revise its Onshore Oil and Gas Order No. 5, which governs measurement of natural gas produced on federal and Indian leases. BLM said the changes clarify the original order and remove unnecessary provisions.
QATARGAS let contract to a joint venture of National Petroleum Construction Co. (NPC) of Abu Dhabi and Technip Geoproduction for work on phase two of Qatar's offshore North field development project. The contract covers engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of the process utilities platform topsides. Installation of the 7,020 metric ton topsides, to be fabricated at NPC's Mussafah yard, is due early in 1996.
ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, last year replaced 162% of its 1993 U.S. and Canadian production. U.S. replacement cost averaged $3.55/bbl. The E&D drilling and improved recovery accounted for 151% of total production and acquisitions of producing properties 15%.
BHP PETROLEUM PTY. LTD. started production from Griffin, Scindian, and Chinook oil and gas fields off Western Australia. Production is expected to reach a combined 80,000 b/d and 38 MMcfd in first quarter. Operator BHP holds 45% interest in the field group, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia 35%, and Inpex Alpha Ltd. 20%. It is Mobil's first Australian production.
BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO. LTD. let a 3 year contract to a group led by Schlumberger Evaluation & Production Services (U.K.) Ltd., Aberdeen, for drilling services in Magnus, Clyde, and Thistle fields of the North Sea. Work will include directional drilling, mud logging, surveying, and operations management.
NEWFOUNDLAND'S government seeks new uses for the work site where components for the Hibernia offshore oil field development project are being built. The $300 million (Canadian), 3,953 acre site, 93 miles northwest of St. John's, will revert to provincial government ownership in 1997 for $1. Currently, a work force of more than 2,000 is preparing components for the Hibernia production platform for installation on the Grand Banks.
CLIFFS DRILLING CO., Houston, in the first quarter will send two land rigs to Venezuela and a jack up to Tampico Bay off Mexico to work under turnkey contracts let by the Corpoven SA unit of Petroleos de Venezuela SA and Petroleos Mexicanos, respectively. Cliffs' Rigs 28 and 41 are to drill six turnkey wells in eastern Venezuela in the next 15-18 months. Jack up Rig 12 is to drill two turnkey wells this year in Tampico Bay under a Pemex contract with the Perforadora Central SA joint venture, of which Cliffs is a partner with a one-third interest.
HURRICANE HYDROCARBONS LTD., Calgary, agreed with South Kazakhstan Oil & Gas Production Association on a joint venture development of a South Central Kazakhstan field that holds light crude reserves estimated at 125 million bbl. The 1993 discovery well tested a combined 9,000 b/d of oil from two zones. Plans, subject to approval by the former Soviet republic, call for initial development of 25 wells and at least 1,500 b/d production.
RESERVE ESTIMATE in Indonesia's Sanga Sanga gas field in Kalimantan was upgraded 13%, development partner Lasmo plc, London, reported. Estimated gross remaining reserves stand at 7.7 tcf, with another 1.3 tcf labeled probable remaining reserves. Sanga Sanga provides 60% of the gas required by the Bontang LNG plant, which in turn supplies 50% of Indonesia's LNG exports.
OCEANEERING INTERNATIONAL INC.'S Ocean Producer floating production, storage, and offloading vessel began receiving production from two subsea wells in 185 ft of water on Block 4 off northern Angola. Contract term is for 1 year with two optional 1 year extensions with Angolan national oil company Sonangol.
PETROCHEMICALS
CHINA'S National Technical Import & Export Corp. and National Chemical Construction Corp. let a $100 million contract to Nissho Iwai Corp. and Chiyoda Corp. to build an ammonia plant on the southern part of Hainan island. The plant is scheduled for completion by December 1995.
INDONESIAN HOLDING COMPANY PT Tiratamas Majutama, British Petroleum Co. plc, and Nissho Iwai Corp. agreed to set up a joint venture company to develop a 100,000 metric ton/year polypropylene plant at Balongon, West Java. The $179.6 million project is to be complete in May 1995. The new company, PT Polytama Propindo, will be owned by Tiratamas 80% and BP and Nissho Iwai 10% each.
TAIWAN'S TUNTEX GROUP earmarked $33 million for a $355 million purified terephthalic acid plant in Thailand (OGJ, Jan. 17, p. 28). The move is in line with Tuntex plans to become the world's top producer of polyester fiber by 2000. Tuntex will spend $77 million to boost polyester capacity to 1,000 metric tons/day in the near term from present production of 620 tons/day.
ENERCHEM INTERNATIONAL INC. plans an $870,000 (Canadian) expansion of its petrochemical plant at Nisku, near Edmonton, Alta. The company produces chemicals to stimulate well production, inhibit corrosion, and control foaming.
COMPANIES
SEAGULL ENERGY CORP., Houston, budgeted $173 million for capital expenditures this year vs. $112 million in 1993. The increase reflects Seagull's drive to add gas reserves.
BETA WELL SERVICE INC., Calgary, acquired Sundown Well Service, Brooks, Alta., with 11 rigs and related equipment, for an undisclosed price.
UNOCAL CORP. is restructuring its petroleum technology support activities. It will increase outsourcing of routine laboratory operations and seismic data processing now conducted at Unocal facilities in Anaheim and Brea, Calif. The change will result in the loss of 50-100 jobs as some operations are phased out during the next 6 months.
SUNCOR INC., Calgary, allocated $120 million (Canadian) for E&D this year, a 35% increase from 1993. The increase will go mainly for development.
DRESSER INDUSTRIES INC., Dallas, agreed to sell its 64% interest in M-I Drilling Fluids Co. to Smith International Inc., Houston, for $160 million. The sale complies with terms of an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division stemming from Dresser's merger with Baroid Corp. (OGJ, Jan. 31, p. 42).
WESTERN ATLAS INC., Beverly Hills, Calif., paid $558 million for Dresser Industries' 29.5% interest in Western's oil field services company. Closing took place last month.
MAXUS ENERGY CORP., Dallas, plans capital and exploration spending of $212 million this year vs. $391.4 million in 1993. It plans to spend $96 million in Indonesia, $53 million in South America, $47 million in North America, $13 million for international exploration, and $3 million for miscellaneous items.
HUSKY OIL LTD., Calgary, is withdrawing its membership and 10.99% interest in Prism Sulphur Corp., which markets sulfur internationally for a number of companies. Prism was formed in 1991 by 27 sulfur producers.
PIPELINES
WESTCOAST ENERGY INC., Vancouver, B.C., moved a company record 579 bcf of gas through its pipeline system in 1993, up 13% from 1992. It ships gas in British Columbia and to border points for export to the U.S. Northwest. A record 1 day volume of 1.87 bcf was shipped via its main line last Dec. 27.
BRITISH GAS PLC is negotiating to play a major role in a $4.2 billion South American pipeline project, London's Financial Times reported. Work on a 1,200 mile pipeline to Brazil from Bolivia is expected to start next year. British Gas recently joined Tenneco Gas in a project to lay a gas pipeline linking Chile and Argentina (OGJ, Nov. 8, 1993, Newsletter).
REFINING
VENEZUELA'S Genevapca CA let a combined $135 million contract to Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Raytheon Engineers & Constructors to equip and build a 300,000 kw power plant that will produce electricity and process steam for Maraven SA's 286,000 b/cd Cardon, Venezuela, refinery. The cogeneration plant is scheduled to start up in mid-1995.
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
