COMPANIES
HALLIBURTON CO'S Halliburton Energy Services unit in second quarter will reassign some employees to new responsibilities and cut 500 700 salaried positions throughout the organization. Fifteen senior management posts will be eliminated. The steps aim to improve efficiency and align the organization with current business conditions and opportunities.
LNG
RAS LAFFAN LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS CO. LTD. let contract to Hudson Engineering Corp., Houston, a unit of McDermott International Inc., for preliminary engineering of offshore gas production and treatment facilities designed to supply 1.2 bcfd of gas and 84,000 b/d of unstabilized condensate feedstock for two 2.5 million ton/year LNG trains to be built at Ras Laffan, Qatar. Feedstock is to come from giant North gas field off Qatar.
GAS STORAGE
ALENCO RESOURCES INC., a unit of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. (AEC), Calgary, agreed to operate a proposed gas storage facility and market center under study by AEC and McFarland Energy Inc., Santa Fe Springs, Calif., for the western U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Focus of the Ten Section Hub would be a storage site in Ten Section field 10 miles south of Bakersfield in Kern County, Calif. It markets requiring an estimated 1 bcfd of deliverability an alternative to storage services of California's two major public utilities.
MARKETING
UNLEADED GASOLINE outsold leaded gasoline in Australia for the first time, Australian Institute of Petroleum reported. More than 200,000 motorists, or about 3% of Australia's total, switched to unleaded in February, the first month of a federal government campaign to eliminate lead air emissions.
EXPLORATION
EXPLORATION CO. OF LOUISIANA INC., Lafayette, La., started drilling the first of three commitment wells off China, the C 1 Zhao Dong on the Zhao Dong block in Bohai Bay. Drilling, which began Apr. 5, is expected to require 45 days.
U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE renewed its list of oil companies that may not bid for offshore leases with other companies on the list. The companies are Chevron, Exxon, Shell, Mobil, and BP America, and their subsidiaries.
BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO. LTD. and Norwegian partner Den norske stats oljeselskap AS obtained a 6 month extension of exclusive exploration rights for the Shak Deniz prospect on Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea shelf. Statoil said the combine has interpreted survey data covering the 160 sq km license area in association with State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic.
MOBIL CORP. acquired a 25% interest in Block 05 3 off Viet Nam from Japan's AOC Energy Development Co. Ltd. The 965 sq mile block lies 180 miles southeast of the Mekong River delta. Other interests are held by operator AOC 30%, Teikoku Oil 24%, BP 14%, and Staloil 7%.
CHINA'S Shanghai Bureau of Marine Geological Survey asked Energy Development Corp. (EDC), Houston, to evaluate the potential of the 1,019 sq km Ping Nan area in the East China Sea 240 miles east of Shanghai. EDC will reprocess seismic data.
COGENERATION
NORTH CANADIAN OILS LTD., Calgary, agreed to sell its North Canadian Power Inc. cogeneration subsidiary for $72 million (U.S.) to General Public Utilities Corp. unit Energy Initiatives Inc., Parsippany, N.J. Closing is expected late in May.
DRILLING PRODUCTION
PETROLEO BRASILEIRO SA surpassed the 1 km water depth barrier and believes it reclaimed the world water depth record for a producing oil well with completion in 3,369 ft of water of its 7 MRL 4DRJS. The well is a southern extension of the Marlim field complex in the Campos basin off Brazil. Previously the deepest water subsea well completed by Petrobras was 7MRL 9 RJS in 2,562 ft of water, also in Marlim field (OGJ, Nov. 22, 1993, p. 33).
ENTERPRISE OIL PLC, London, agreed to sell its 60% interest in the Bawean production sharing contract, which includes Camar oil field off Indonesia, to Australian group Stirling Resources, Harriman Resources, and Russell Oil & Gas. Enterprise operates the field, which recently produced 2,800 b/d through two unmanned platforms. The field is shut in at present.
ARAKIS ENERGY CORP., Vancouver, B.C., and joint venture partner State Petroleum Corp. are mobilizing equipment to start flow testing and recompleting wells in Central Sudan's Unity and Heglig oil fields.
HAMILTON OIL CO. LTD. let a 15 year, $90 million contract to Halliburton Energy Services to design, build, and operate an operations support vessel for the Liverpool Bay oil and gas field development project in the Irish Sea. Delivery of the self propelled, four leg jack up is scheduled for November 1995.
NUEVO ENERGY CO., Houston, bought for $6.25 million an average 70% operated working interest in 13 producing Jurassic lower Cotton Valley wells on five Oak Hill field gas units in Rusk and Gregg counties, Tex. Nuevo acquired 22 bcf, increasing its Oak Hill reserves 11%. It plans to work over 10 upper Cotton Valley wells and drill nine in the next 2 years,
STATOIL let a 100 million kroner ($14 million) contract to Kvaerner AS, Oslo, for preengineering of a process plant for a production vessel to be used for Norne field development off Norway. Plant capacity will be 160,000 b/d of oil and 210 MMcfd of gas, with a water injection module of 250,000 b/d capacity. Norne will be the first permanent production ship for Norwegian offshore service (OGJ, Dec. 20, 1993, p. 27).
HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES agreed to manufacture oil well cementing units in Texas and Oklahoma and export them to Russian oil field services company GERS, which will arrange for the items to be mounted on Russian trucks.
CARDWELL INTERNATIONAL LTD., El Dorado, Kan., is shipping three custom designed, 100 ton, 525 hp, mobile workover/drilling rigs to Mangistaumunaigaz, Kazakhstan, from Houston. The units feature heaters to keep fluids from freezing in weather that can reach 45 C.
BP EXPLORATION OPERATING began oil production from U.K. North Sea Medwin field Apr. 5. The Block 30/17b field was developed as a satellite of Clyde field via an extended reach well drilled from a Clyde platform 5.3 km away. First production was 10,200 b/d. Medwin field reserves are estimated at 3 million bbl.
HARDY OIL & GAS U.S.A. INC., Houston, discovered gas in 850 ft of water on Green Canyon Block 136 in the Gulf of Mexico. Its 6 OCS G 4508 well cut 114 ft of net gas pay in middle Pleistocene. It flowed 26.7 MMcfd of gas from perforations at 7,400 7,600 ft through a 42/64 in. choke with 2,350 psi flowing tubing pressure.
U.S. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORP. approved a $40 million investment guarantee for Snyder Oil Co., Fort Worth, to support its development of oil fields on 306,000 acres 800 miles east of Moscow. The Russian partner is Permneft, OPIC said the guarantee will aid export of $54 million in U.S. goods and services.
ENVIRONMENT
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY issued a rule requiring U.S. chemical plants to cut toxic air emissions by 88%, or 506,000 tons/year. The rule affects 370 plants, mostly in Texas, Louisiana, and New Jersey. It will allow emissions averaging, under which chemical plants, rather than cut emissions of a particular toxic, can reduce emissions of another toxic instead, if they go 10% beyond what originally was required.
TANKERS
KUWAIT OIL TANKER CO. plans to build two very large crude carriers, Middle East Economic Survey reported. The double hull, 280,000 dwt vessels are expected to be ready in late 1996. The company, MEES said, also is considering building two chemical products carriers to serve a petrochemical complex to be built by sister company Petrochemical Industries Co. and Union Carbide Corp. (OGJ, Aug. 16, 1993, p. 67).
PIPELINES
PETROVIETNAM Expected to start work Apr. 9 laying a 64 mile, $400 million gas pipeline linking Bach Ho field off southern Viet Nam to the Ba Ria power plant. The company expects gas flow to start in October. The line eventually will extend another 53 miles inland to the Thu Duc power plant near Ho Chi Minh City.
TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION CORP. hydrostatically tested 6,200 ft of pipeline on its gas line that ruptured Mar. 24 at Edison, N.J. (OGJ, Apr. 4, p. 34). Repairs include replacing 220 ft of pipe.
TANZANIA'S government accepted a bid from partners TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. and Ocelot Energy Inc. to lay a proposed $200 million (U.S.), 220 km pipeline off Tanzania. The line will tie an offshore gas field to a 100,000 kw electric power plant at Dar Es Salaam.
CANADA'S National Energy Board cut 1994 pipeline tolls for Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, B.C., by 4.5% from 1993 levels. Westcoast, which transports gas to British Columbia markets and an export point at Huntingdon, B.C., had sought a toll cut of only 1%.
REFINING
KUWAIT NATIONAL PETROLEUM CO. completed rebuilding its Mina Abdulla, Mina Al Ahmadi, and Shuaiba refineries, all heavily damaged during the Persian Gulf conflict. The restored plants can process as much as a combined 690,000 b/d of crude. KNPC expects the Al Ahmadi plant to increase capacity to 405,000 b/d by next year from 305,000 b/d at present.
SHELL OIL CO.'S Martinez, Calif., manufacturing complex was awarded the National Petroleum Refiners Association distinguished safety award. NPRA gives the award to plants that attain superior safety performance, based on an evaluation of the safety program and commitment, and the plant's current and past safety record.
EPA granted Alaska's request for an exemption from Clean Air Act amendment limits on the sulfur content of diesel fuel. The law bans more than 0.05 wt % sulfur. Alaska did not ask for an exemption from the law's requirement that the fuel meet a cetane index minimum of 40.
RUSSIA'S Gazprom let a $3.9 million contract to Foxboro Co., Foxboro, Mass., and its Russian representative, lntra Automation Services, Grevenbroich, Germany, to provide a Foxboro I/A Series control and information system for a gas, sulfur, and condensate plant in Astrakhan.
CRITERION CATALYST CO. LP, Houston, named M.W. Kellogg Co. project manager and engineering contractor for a series of catalyst plant expansions. The projects will give Criterion greater capacity to produce hydroprocessing catalysts in North America, Latin America, and the Far East. The projects are to be completed in 13 years.
TEXACO LTD. postponed inspection and turnaround at its Pembroke refinery in South Wales so more maintenance work can be added to the program. The 4 6 week shutdown at the 180,000 b/d plant will occur in March 1995 rather than this summer.
PETROCHEMICALS
QATAR PETROCHEMICAL CO. let a $128 million turnkey implementation contract to Italian ENI Group unit Snamprogetti SpA for a 180,000 metric ton/year low density polyethylene plant to be built at Umm Said, Qatar. Work on the plant, which will use the Enichem LDPE process, is to be complete in 22 months.
INDIA'S Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Ltd. and National Fertilizers Ltd. will use Snamprogefti urea technology on construction projects to double capacity of their urea complexes at Aonla and Viiaipur, India, respectively. The work calls for installation of two 1,100 metric ton/day urea units at each of the two sites.
AMOCO CHEMICAL CO. 50%, Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd. 45%, and Mitsui & Co. 5% interest holders propose to build a 350,000 metric ton/year terephthalic acid plant in Marak, western Java. Operation of the 44 billion yen ($396 million) plant is to start up early in 1997.
CNG
NATURAL GAS VEHICLE COALITION, Arlington, Va., will work with General Motors Corp. to allay concern raised by two recent natural gas fuel tank ruptures in 1992 GM pickup trucks (OGJ, Mar. 28, p. 38).
SPILLS
MAXUS ECUADOR INC. let contract to Dart Energy Corp. division Dart International to provide oil spill response equipment and supervision in Block 16 of Ecuador's Oriente region. Dart also will provide training and contingency planning.
