INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

March 26, 1990
PETROFINA (U.K.) LTD. obtained approval for a 143 mile, 10 in. oil products pipeline from its Lindsey Oil refinery in South Humberside, England, to a distribution terminal at Buncefield, Hertfordshire. Project cost is $74.25 million. Pipelaying, to start this month and finish in September, will be shared by Daniel Entrepose and Alfred McAlpine Services and Pipelines Ltd.

PIPELINES

PETROFINA (U.K.) LTD. obtained approval for a 143 mile, 10 in. oil products pipeline from its Lindsey Oil refinery in South Humberside, England, to a distribution terminal at Buncefield, Hertfordshire. Project cost is $74.25 million. Pipelaying, to start this month and finish in September, will be shared by Daniel Entrepose and Alfred McAlpine Services and Pipelines Ltd.

CIA. ARRENDATARIA del Monopolio de Petroleos SA, Spain's national oil products distribution company, let contract to Empresa Nacional de Ingenieria y Tecnologia SA for engineering services for a 94 mile, 10 in. products pipeline it plans to lay from Corunna to Vigo in Northwest Spain.

REFINING/MARKETING

A KUWAIT PETROLEUM CORP. affiliate agreed to buy Mobil Corp.'s refining/marketing assets in Italy for about $300 million. Mobil Oil Italiana SpA operates a 100,000 b/d refinery and adjoining aromatics plant at Naples and about 2,000 branded service stations. Mobil will form a new affiliate to continue lube sales in Italy other than those related to the retail stations.

SIX WORKERS were injured in a Mar. 20 explosion and fire apparently sparked by a xylene leak at Shell U.K. Ltd.'s 256,000 b/d Stanlow refinery at Ellesmere Port, England. The fire was contained in 3 1/2 h r.

REPSOL SA acquired a 30% interest in Composan SA, a leading Spanish producer of asphalt and derivatives with plants in the Madrid area, Catalonia, Andalusia, and Castille.

PETROLEOS DEL NORTE SA, an affiliate of Repsol, will build a 5,500 b/d alkylation unit at its Somorrostro, Bilbao, refinery in northern Spain using Phillips Petroleum Co. technology. The unit is scheduled for completion by mid-1992. Phillips technology also is being used in a 2,400 b/d alkylation unit under construction by Repsol Petroleo SA at Puertollano, Spain.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

GULF CANADA RESOURCES LTD. revised its estimates of oil and gas reserves in Amauligak field in the Canadian Beaufort Sea after delineation drilling and detailed studies. It cut the estimate of oil reserves to 335 million bbl from about 700-800 million bbl and almost doubled the estimate of gas reserves to 2.2 tcf. Gulf Canada also pegged reserves in Parsons Lake gas field on the Mackenzie Delta at 1.8 tcf of gas and almost 30 million bbl of condensate.

CANADA NORTHWEST ENERGY LTD., Calgary, reported that Montedison SpA cut production from Vega oil field off Sicily to about 13,600 b/d from 17,500 b/d in February because of technical problems and is conducting further engineering evaluations. CNWE holds a 20% working interest in the field.

PETROMAR SA, Peru's state owned offshore oil company, let contract to Peruana de Perforacion SA and Suits Drilling Co. South America Inc., Enid, Okla., for a $15 million, 15 month drilling program off Peru's northern coast. Plans call for three wells directionally drilled from land and 12 offshore platform wells projected to 9,000-10,000 ft. Petromar expects the program to hike reserves by 3 million bbl and increase offshore production by 3,000 b/d from the current 23,500 b/d.

BAHRAIN NATIONAL OIL CO. let contract for six oil/gas production separators to KCC Process Equipment Ltd., Richmond, Surrey, England. The units will replace existing units at three well sites in Bahrain.

DEN NORSKE STATS OIJESELSKAP AS let these contracts for platform modules for Sleipner gas field in the Norwegian North Sea, all due for delivery in November 1991: $38.17 million to the Kvaerner Egersund division of Kvaerner Rosenberg, Norway, for the 3,800 metric ton separation module for Sleipner A platform; $32.06 million to KS Kaldnes de Groot AS for the power supply module; $26.72 million to Sud Marine Industries, France, for the wellhead module; and $16.79 million to AS Nymo Mek. Verksted for the pigging/metering module.

MCDERMOTT INTERNATIONAL INC. and Bohai Oil Co., a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp., completed fabrication of a 5,400 ton platform jacket to be installed in Huizhou 21-1 oil field, the first to be developed in the Pearl River basin off China. ACT group-Agip SpA, Chevron Corp., and Texaco Inc.-will drill the first of ten 9,800 ft development wells in August. Production from the 127 million bbl field will peak at 24,000 b/d.

EXPLORATION

ELEVEN COMPANIES obtained three parcels covering more than 247,000 acres in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Terms are for 4 years and renewable for another 4 years if at least one well is drilled on each parcel. Amoco Canada Ltd. was the top bidder with a pledge of $2.1 million for work on one parcel. Two groups led by Esso Resources Canada Ltd. agreed to spend $1.5 million each for rights to the other two tracts.

ELF NORGE'S 25/5-3 wildcat near its Froy oil prospect in the Norwegian North Sea flowed 21 MMcfd of gas and 720 b/d of condensate through a 15.6 mm choke. It was drilled to 9,440 ft.

SOUTH YEMEN signed a memorandum of agreement with a group of companies covering the 14,000 sq km North Sanau exploration permit in South Yemen. The permit adjoins an Elf Aquitaine permit on the southern flank of the Arabian basin. Included in the group are Tullow Oil plc 13% and the Bin Ham group of the United Arab Emirates.

PETROCHEMICALS

CHINA'S Yangzi ethylene plant in Lanjing, Jiangsu province, started up after 5 years of construction on the $1.4 billion project. It will process 60,000 b/d of crude to yield 300,000 tons/year of ethylene and other products.

PEQUIVEN, a unit of Venezuela's state owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, and Ecofuel SpA, a unit of Italy's ENI, let a contract to Davy McKee, London, for basic engineering for a 2,000 metric ton/day methanol plant at Jose, Anzoategui state. The work, scheduled for completion in 5 months, will be the basis for detailed engineering, procurement, and construction following completion of a feasibility study and final approval.

EXXON CHEMICAL CO. will spend $11 million for an 85,000 ton/year autoclave reactor at its Antwerp coating polymers plant.

LNG

INDIA will import about 425 MMcfd of liquefied natural gas in 1990 to help relieve power shortages in its northeastern region.

TANKERS

FOUR MEN DIED in an explosion and fire on the 233,949 dwt Norwegian oil tanker Happy Traveler off Singapore Mar. 15 after the vessel, owned by Singa Ship Management, offloaded its cargo of crude at Singapore.

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