INDUSTRY BRIEFS

PETROCHEMICALS

INTERNATIONAL FERTILIZER Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Ala., seeks companies to perform acid frac treatments on two natural gas wells in southern Albania and repair an 80 km gas pipeline there. The work is needed to help increase gas supply to an Albanian ammonia/urea fertilizer complex.

A JOINT VENTURE of Union Carbide Corp. and Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co. let contract to Fluor Daniel Inc. to serve as program manager for a $1 + billion petrochemical complex to be built in Kuwait's Shuaiba industrial area. Fluor also will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for associated infrastructure and off site facilities. The complex is scheduled for completion late in 1997.

ALTERNATE FUELS

AMERICAN REF-FUEL CO. let a $1 00 million contract to Fluor Daniel to provide engineering and procurement services to retrofit American's waste to energy plant in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The retrofit is scheduled for completion late in 1996.

REFINING

ENERGY BIOSYSTEMS CORP., The Woodlands, Tex., is collaborating with Total Raffinage Distribution SA on testing of Energy Biosystems' biocatalytic desulfurization process for diesel fuel. Total will build a pilot unit after results from Energy Biosystems' U.S. pilot plant are evaluated. The unit will be built and operated at Total's expense at its European Centre for Research & Technology near its Le Havre, France, refinery complex. Following testing, Total will build the first commercial unit at one of its wholly or partially owned refineries.

FOURTEEN U.S. REFINERS submitted high bids to buy a total of 108,812 b/d of federal offshore crude for 3 years at a royalty-in-kind sale. Eleven companies will receive 82,935 b/d from Gulf of Mexico leases and three others 25,877 b/d from Pacific Ocean leases. MMS plans to offer another sale next year of oil from federal leases in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

UNITED STATES EXPLORATION INC. (USXP), Independence, Kan., completed its $1.77 million purchase of Tipperary Corp.'s idle 10,400 b/d Ingleside, Tex., refinery. USXP plans to dismantle the plant and move it to Kyrgyzstan (OGJ, June 6, p - 44).

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ruled that 1,4-dialkylamino-anthroquinone, the blue dye used to mark high sulfur diesel, must be changed to a red dye called Solvent Red 164. The red dye must be used beginning Oct. 1, giving refiners a chance to deplete inventories of blue dye and secure supplies of the new dye. EPA cited possible confusion with an aviation gasoline grade that is dyed blue.

GIANT INDUSTRIES INC., Scottsdale, Ariz., said a pressure vessel used to treat propane failed July 16 in an alkylation unit, temporarily reducing production at its 20,800 b/cd Ciniza refinery near Gallup, N.M. There was no fire, but two employees were injured. The alkylation unit may be out of operation for at least 3 weeks.

YUKONG LTD. chose Profimatics' G-Spare and Anamel blending control/optimization software to upgrade the blending system at its 529,000 b/cd Ulsan, South Korea, refinery. Yukong will install the systems on two gasoline, three diesel, and three fuel oil blenders.

EXPLORATION

NUGAS RESOURCES (U.S.) INC., a unit of Canada's NuGas Ltd., and U.S. Energy/Crested Corp. unit Energx Ltd., Riverton, Wyo., agreed to explore, develop, and produce shallow gas on 300,000 acres of Sioux and Assiniboine tribal lands on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Northeast Montana. They committed to drill eight wells the next 2 years, with three to be drilled this year.

NORWAY'S Den norske stats oljeselskap AS, Norsk Hydro AS, and Saga Petroleum AS during Aug. 1 to yearend will pool geological expertise and personnel in a joint study of southern Barents Sea oil and gas prospects. The study will include opportunities off Norway for agreements on exploratory targets.

U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE (MMS) issued its final notice for offshore Lease Sale 150, which will offer 5,102 blocks in the western Gulf of Mexico. The sale will be held Aug. 17 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans. Tracts total 28 million acres in water 8-3,000 m deep 9-223 miles off Texas and Louisiana.

AMOCO COLOMBIA PETROLEUM CO. prepared to test its 3 Opon wildcat after reaching 12,710 ft total depth on the Opon association contract area in the Middle Magdalena Valley, 125 miles north of Bogota. Operator Amoco holds a 60% interest in the Opon contract, Hondo Magdalena Oil & Gas Ltd. unit of Hondo Oil & Gas Co., Roswell N.M., 30%, and Opon Development Corp. 10%.

PIPELINES

FOOTHILLS PIPE LINES LTD. asked Canada's National Energy Board for a permit to lay a $138.6 million (Canadian), 737.5 MMcfd capacity, 134 mile, 36 in. gas pipeline to the U.S. border at Wild Horse, Alta., from Princess, Alta. It seeks to build a meter station near Wild Horse and expects to start operating the line Nov. 1, 1996.

COLUMBIA GAS SYSTEM INC. plans to create a natural gas market center this year, focusing at first on Northeast and Midwest U.S. markets presently served by its five gas distribution companies. Columbia unit Columbia Energy Services Corp. will operate the center from its Pittsburgh office.

MOBIL CORP. expects by as early as summer 1995 to reverse the flow of its pipeline company's 20 in. crude oil line between Corsicana and Beaumont, Tex. The reversed line will move crude north to Midwest U.S. refineries from the Gulf Coast.

NOVA GAS TRANSMISSION LTD., Calgary, reported it could spend $2 billion (Canadian) the next 3 years expanding its pipeline system, especially in northern and eastern Alberta where outlays of more than $240 million have been proposed to increase gas deliveries from the region. Nova during the first half this year shipped 1.996 tcf of gas, an average of more than 11 bcfd, up 7.1% from first half 1993 deliveries.

GOVERNMENT

POLAND'S government decided to keep control of the country's gasoline distribution network under a cautious privatization program, London's Financial Times reported. State owned service station operator CPN is expected to split its 3,300 outlets into three networks. Those three will then be passed to state refining companies, whose shares are expected to be offered to domestic and foreign investors.

SPILLS

ALERT WORKERS at the 116,140 b/cd Komsomolsk na Amure refinery in Russia's Far East stemmed a spill of mazut, a distillation residue, from a plant pipeline that thieves tapped. Holes bored into the line spilled an undisclosed volume of the liquid before the flow was stopped.

COMPANIES

COASTAL CORP., Houston, formed an electrical power marketing subsidiary, Coastal Electric Services Co. The new unit will market and broker power in wholesale transactions.

SHELL OIL CO. chose Setpoint Inc., Houston, and Aspen Technology Inc., Cambridge, Mass., to supply on-line modeling and optimization technology for the alkylation unit optimization project at its Westhollow Technology Center in Houston. AspenTech will provide its rigorous, open equation based, modeling and optimization package, RT-OPT. Setpoint's on-line execution platform, Optcom, will be used for data conditioning and on-line execution of RT-OPT.

NOBLE DRILLING CORP., Houston, in January 1988 acquired Temple Marine Drilling Co. and in October 1988 Peter Bawden Drilling Co., not Marine Drilling Co. and Peter Baldwin Drilling Co., respectively, as reported earlier (OGJ, July 18, p. 18).

SAFETY

MMS issued a report confirming the Jan. 17 Northridge, Calif., earthquake caused no structural damage to the network of oil and gas installations off southern California. Following the quake, MMS inspected all offshore pipelines and platforms, then required operators to conduct more extensive surveys.

U.S. COAST GUARD proposed a rule to conform its regulations setting safety standards for self-propelled vessels carrying bulk liquefied gases. The Coast Guard said the amendments make its rules conform with International Maritime Organization standards.

EXPORTS-IMPORTS

CORPOVEN SA unit of Petroleos de Venezuela SA is conducting a prefeasibility study of a $400 million project to produce as much as 58,000 b/d of liquid ethane for export from Jose, eastern Venezuela, not 200 million metric tons/year as reported last month (OGJ, June 27, Newsletter).

LUBES

PETROMIN LUBRICATING OIL CO., Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, established Union Chemical Industries Pte. Ltd., Karachi, to blend lube oils in Pakistan. Capitalized at $650,000, the new company will handle 75,000 metric tons/year of lube blend stocks.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

PATTERSON ENERGY INC., Snyder, Tex., completed its $6.375 million combined cash/stock purchase of nine land drilling rigs, 16 trucks, a yard in Victoria, Tex., and other assets from Questor Drilling Corp., a unit of Phibro Energy USA Inc., Dallas.

TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC let a multimillion pound, 5 year contract to a joint venture of Brown & Root Ltd., London, and AOC International Ltd., Aberdeen, for engineering and construction support. Work will include modification, design, and construction on Total's North Alwyn platforms and MCP-01 platform in the North Sea and at St. Fergus terminal north of Aberdeen. The contract also will cover work in Dunbar field in the North Sea, due on stream late this year.

TESORO PETROLEUM CORP., San Antonio, reported 11 more development well completions the first half of this year in South Texas' Bob West field, bringing the total number of wells in which it has participated in this field to 36 successes with no dry holes. It identified 34 more drillsites there and plans to drill 16 of them during the second half.

ABRAXAS PRODUCTION CORP., a unit of Abraxas Petroleum Corp., San Antonio, agreed to pay $28 million cash to an undisclosed group for producing leases in eight West Texas fields. The acquisition adds 51.3 bcf of gas equivalent (bcfe) to Abraxas' reserves, which were 41.1 bcfe at yearend 1993. Closing is expected no later than July 31.

CANADIAN FRACMASTER LTD.'S Russian joint venture, AO Samotlor Pan Canadian Fracmaster Services, fully drew down its $10 million (Canadian) loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. The venture, located in Nizhnevartovsk, western Siberia, produces oil using Canadian Fracmaster's well stimulation technology.

NORSK HYDRO asked the Kvaerner Group to supply equipment and services for at least 5 years for subsea development projects off Norway. Wellhead systems will come from Kvaerner National Inc., Houston, control systems from Kvaerner FSSL Inc., also of Houston, and tie-in equipment from Kvaerner Energy AS, Oslo.

ALABAMA COALBED METHANE producers last March set a monthly record by producing 9.44 bcf of gas from 2,694 wells. The production accounted for more than 23% of all gas produced in the state during the month. Previous high was in October 1993 when operators there produced 9.33 bcf from coal seam wells.

HAMILTON OIL CO. LTD., London, let contract to Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Tokyo, to build an oil storage barge for its Liverpool Bay field development project in the U.K. Irish Sea. The 870,000 bbl capacity barge will be built in Rio de Janiero. It will leave the yard in August 1995. First production is slated for fourth quarter 1995. The barge will be moored on Block 110/8a, more than 10 miles from production platforms in Block 110/13 (OGJ, Nov. 1, 1993, p. 34).

LPG

JAPAN'S Itochu Corp. and four Chinese companies propose a joint venture in China to import and market liquefied petroleum gas, reported Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Tokyo. The venture is expected to build an LPG storage depot at Jinan, Shandong province. Capital cost is an estimated $13.2 million, with construction scheduled to be completed by 1996.

GAS PROCESSING

ROCKLAND PIPELINE CO., Houston, let contract to EPC Inc., Tyler, Tex., to design and build a 25 MMcfd turboexpander gas processing plant on Rockland's pipeline system in Sterling County, Tex. Rockland also bought 40 miles of gathering lines from Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co., Midland, Tex., and is laying 8 miles of pipeline to tie the acquired lines into the Sterling system. Combined cost of the projects is $13 million.