INDUSTRY BRIEFS

LNG

QATAR LIQUEFIED GAS CO. LTD. (Qatargas) signed a $1.995 billion loan agreement with a group of Japanese banks to help finance construction of onshore facilities for its liquefied natural gas export project. The loan will fund construction of a two train, 4 million metric ton/year liquefaction plant. Total project cost, including a third train, LNG tankers, and offshore gas field development, is estimated at $7 billion.

MARKETING

MOBIL CORP. will reenter the San Joaquin Valley, Calif., gasoline market after a 6 year absence. Mobil branded gasoline will be sold through Stuarts' Petroleum Co., Bakersfield, Calif., a large gasoline distributor serving Bakersfield north to Fresno.

CHEVRON U.S.A. PRODUCTS will begin offering a midgrade unleaded gasoline this month in most of its service stations in western Washington and Oregon. The 443 stations involved also will phase out sales of leaded regular gasoline to meet air quality regulations. The midgrade is being promoted as an alternative to leaded regular.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TEXACO LTD. and British Petroleum plc received U.K. approval to develop the Central North Sea's Erskine gas/condensate field, said to be the first high pressure/high temperature gas field development in the North Sea. Project cost is estimated at $465 million. Reserves are pegged at more than 330 bcf of gas and 75 million bbl of condensate under Blocks 23/26b and 23/26a. Production, to start in late 1997, will move through a 16 in. multiphase pipeline to Lomond platform, 19 miles north, for separation and export via BP's Forties pipeline to Cruden Bay.

BRITISH GAS PLC let a $9 million contract to AOC International Ltd., Aberdeen, for hookup and commissioning of Armada platform in the U.K. North Sea. The platform will develop Drake, Hawkins, and Fleming gas fields, with first production slated for Oct. 1, 1997 (OGJ, Aug. 15, 1994, p. 56). AOC has started onshore work and expects to begin offshore work in spring 1997.

AMOCO (U.K.) EXPLORATION CO. installed two minimum facilities platforms in Davy and Bessemer fields in the southern U.K. North Sea. The platforms feature a new monotower design for marginal field development (OGJ, Mar. 27, p. 30). Production is to begin in October. Two jack-ups are drilling development wells in the two fields.

CONOCO (U.K.) LTD. took delivery of a 150 metric ton wellhead protection structure from Kvaerner Oil & Gas Services Ltd., Lowestoft, U.K., to be installed in Callisto field in the U.K. North Sea. Callisto is being developed with a single subsea well tied back to a platform to be installed in Ganymede field. Conoco will begin production from the two fields in the fourth quarter. Gas will be sent to landfall via Conoco's Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System (OGJ, June 20, 1994, p. 31).

NORWAY'S Den norske stats oljeselskap AS let a $45.5 million, 5 year contract to Kvaerner AS, Oslo, for maintenance of gas turbines on offshore platforms. The contract covers 42 turbines on platforms in Statfjord, Gullfaks, Veslefrikk, and Sleipner fields in the Norwegian North Sea. An optional 5 year extension could boost total contract value to $93.5 million.

ARCO BRITISH LTD. secured U.K. approval to develop Trent and Tyne gas discoveries in the southern North Sea. Trent, in Block 43/24, and Tyne, in Block 44/18, will be developed at a cost of $340 million with a normally unmanned steel platform in each field, controlled from ARCO's Great Yarmouth base. Trent platform will act as a gas gathering center for the two fields and possibly other area developments, with gas sent to shore via an existing pipeline in Esmond field. Reserves are estimated at 190 bcf for Trent and 250 bcf for Tyne. Production is to begin in autumn 1996.

TRIUMPH ENERGY CORP., Calgary, aims to boost production from wells to be acquired for $32 million in southern Alberta's Manyberries area. The deal, to close June 1, includes a 130 km oil pipeline from Manyberries to Milk River, Alta. The purchase will lift Triumph's production to 1,600 b/d of oil equivalent (BOE/day) from 400 BOE/day and its reserves to 7.2 million BOE from 3 million BOE.

HOME OIL LTD. and Novagas Clearinghouse Ltd., both of Calgary, started up Kahntah gas field, 186 miles north of Fort St. John, B.C. Novagas completed a 35 mile pipeline spur to tie the field into the NOVA system in Alberta. Kahntah is producing 28 MMcfd and could produce as much as 35 MMcfd.

ARCO CHINA LTD. took delivery of a $50 million gas processing platform from Sembawang Engineering, Singapore, for installation in Yacheng 13-1 gas field off China's Hainan Island. Capacity is about 300 MMcfd. Sembawang designed the platform and will undertake hookup and commissioning, to be complete by June.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. let a $25 million lump sum contract to Dreco Energy Services Ltd., Edmonton, to supply engineering services and drilling equipment for its Ekofisk field redevelopment project in the Norwegian North Sea. Equipment is to be delivered in November. Engineering and construction work completed under an interim authorization totaled $2.6 million.

UNITED MERIDIAN CORP. (UMC), Houston, purchased producing oil and gas properties for a combined $17.5 million on behalf of its 1995 acquisition program participants. UMC acquired interests in Garland field in Wyoming plus other interests from Unocal Corp. for $11.3 million and interests in East Texas' Hawkins field and Brazos Block A-21 off Texas for $6.2 million from undisclosed sellers.

EXPLORATION

TALISMAN ENERGY LNG.'S a-77-D/93-P-3 Bullmoose well in Northeast British Columbia's Monkman area flowed as much as 36 MMcfd of gas from a 450 ft section in Triassic Pardonet and Baldonnel intervals and confirmed thick Permian and upper Mississippian formations. Talisman, of Calgary, shut in the 16,198 ft wildcat to prepare for a 5 day production test. Working interest owners are operator Talisman 51.43%, Shell Canada Ltd. 37.14%, and Ocelot Energy Inc. 11.43%.

MOBIL PRODUCING NIGERIA UNLIMITED 1 Kpono West wildcat off Nigeria flowed at a combined rate of more than 17,000 b/d of 45-490 gravity crude oil from four intervals. The discovery is on Mining Lease 70 in 150 ft of water 44 miles from Qua lboe terminal off Akwa lbom state. Plans call for appraisal drilling. Interests are held by state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co. 60% and operator Mobil 40%.

ARCO ALASKA INC. finished an exploratory drilling program in the western Colville High area of Alaska's North Slope, interest owner Union Texas Petroleum Holdings Inc. reported. Union Texas estimated reserves found to date at 100 million bbl of oil. ARCO drilled two side tracks to the 1 Alpine wildcat and one to the 3 Fiord wildcat, 20-25 miles west of Kuparuk River oil field. More drilling is planned.

COMPANIES

PETRO-CANADA will reduce its workforce by as much as 11%, or about 700 jobs. The company, 70% owned by the Canadian government and targeted for total privatization, will continue to restructure to bolster its attractiveness to investors. Reorganization will involve combining products, resources, propane, and corporate divisions and eliminating redundant staff in several departments.

EL PASO NATURAL GAS CO. agreed to acquire Eastex Energy Inc. for stock and cash in a deal valued at $31 million. Eastex, Houston, markets more than 900 MMcfd of gas in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest. After Eastex merges with El Paso's gas marketing unit, El Paso's marketing volumes will jump fourfold to more than 1.2 bcfd.

ABB GROUP, Zurich, formed ABB Lummus Global, based in Bloomfield, N.J., by combining international engineering, procurement, and construction contractor ABB Lummus Crest with ABB Global Engineering, an upstream oil and gas market consultant and engineering unit with strength in subsea production technology and floating production systems. The new unit will provide project implementation, commissioning, and operating support services for hydrocarbon processing.

UNION PACIFIC RESOURCES CO. acquired Gemini Oil & Gas Co., Dallas, for $37.9 million. The deal includes proved reserves of 7.578 million BOE and about 40,000 gross acres in Lee, Burleson, Fayette, Washington, and Frio counties, Tex.

NORWAY'S STATOIL increased its equity interest in the privately held Eastern Group, Alexandria, Va., to 67.1% from 38.1% of outstanding capital stock. Eastern owns and operates oil and gas leases and power generating plants and markets gas, heating oil, and propane.

KERR-MCGEE CORP. signed letters of intent to sell its 43,000 b/cd Wynnewood, Okla., refinery to United Refining Co., New York, and the pipeline serving the refinery to a unit of NGC Corp., Houston. NGC Energy Resources is to buy Kerr-McGee's 1,300 mile Oklahoma oil pipeline system and related truck gathering assets. NGC plans to operate the facilities through its NGC Oil & Trading & Transportation Inc. unit to expand oil purchasing and gathering services to regional producers.

PIPELINES

NGC bought Ozark Gas Transmission System for $44.8 million from Columbia Gas Transmission Co., Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., USX Corp., and Oneok Inc. The interstate system includes 266 miles of 20 in. pipeline from eastern Oklahoma to Arkansas, 155 miles of lateral lines, and 17 compressor stations. System capacity is 170 MMcfd, expandable to 330 MMcfd.

NORAM ENERGY CORP. and Coastal Corp. unit ANR Pipeline Co. agreed to scuttle the proposed sale to ANR of an undivided property interest in NorAm's interstate pipelines. The Houston companies received a certificate approving the sale from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1994. FERC attached conditions that the two companies appealed in court, a suit that also is being dropped. Meantime, NorAm agreed to provide ANR 100 MMcfd and other Coastal units 30 MMcfd of firm capacity on NorAm's interstate system under long term, firm transportation arrangements.

PANHANDLE EASTERN PIPE LINE CO. (PEPL), Houston, declared an open season through June 9 to gauge demand for incremental firm gas transportation and storage service in the Kansas City area. Based on preliminary requests for service, PEPL will evaluate the feasibility of increasing system capacity in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.

CNG TRANSMISSION CORP. will cut its workforce by about 100 by July as part of a cost cutting effort under way by parent Consolidated Natural Gas Co. The pipeline operates in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. It also is restructuring field operations with a transmission/storage segment to be headquartered in Delmont, Pa., and a products segment at Clarksburg, W.Va.

CNG ENERGY SERVICES CORP. won the bidding for 100 MMcfd of firm transportation service on TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.'s system to ship gas from western Canada to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard during winter months. Involved are two 10 year packages of 59 MMcfd of winter-only service from the Alberta-Saskatchewan border to Iroquois pipeline at Waddington, N.Y. One package starts this November, the second in November 1996.

DIAMOND SHAMROCK INC., San Antonio, has laid more than one fourth of its 10 in., 405 mile, 25,000 b/d products pipeline from its McKee refinery near Amarillo to El Paso. The line, expandable to 50,000 b/d, is on target for Oct. 1 start-up. The company also is building a 500,000 bbl tank farm at El Paso.

GAS MARKETING

TECO GAS MARKETING CO., Houston, a unit of Teco Pipeline Co., acquired the operating assets and gas marketing business of Polaris Pipeline Corp., Houston, in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. The deal boosts Teco's marketed gas volumes by more than 300 MMcfd to a total 700 MMcfd.

PETROCHEMICALS

DIAMOND SHAMROCK plans to double capacity of its propylene splitter at Mont Belvieu, Tex., by adding a second 730 million lb/year unit.

GEORGIA GULF CORP. let contract to Bechtel Corp. for engineering and procurement services for modernization of its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant at Plaquemine, La. The project will increase VCM production at the plant by 25% and enable Georgia Gulf to market ethylene dichloride. Included in the project are process units, offsites, utilities, modification of a wharf, and measures to reduce air emissions and solid waste production.

ELECTRICAL POWER

AES TRANSPOWER signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh to build, own, and operate a 360,000 kw, gas fired, combined cycle power plant at a cost of $340 million at an undisclosed site in Bangladesh.

A 50-50 VENTURE of Destec Energy Inc., Houston, and Consolidated Natural Gas Co., Pittsburgh, started up its 48,000 kw, gas fired, Bear Mountain cogeneration plant at Bakersfield, Calif. The plant sells power to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under a 20 year contract and steam to an enhanced oil recovery project.