REFINING
SKANDINAVISKA RAFFINADERI AB let a contract to ABB Lummus Crest Inc. to revamp a 50,000 b/d gas oil hydrotreater at its Lysekil, Sweden, refinery. Lummus Crest will provide its SynSat diesel hydrogenation technology, developed by Criterion Catalyst Co. (OGJ, July 1, 1991, p. 55).
KOCH REFINING CO. let contract to John Brown for engineering, procurement, and construction liaison for offsites at its Corpus Christi refinery, in support of a major expansion. The work, to be complete by spring 1993, involves civil and structural engineering and piping design, with associated electrical, instrumentation, and mechanical engineering.
EXPLORATION
MITSUBISHI OIL CO signed a formal contract with Viet Nam covering exploration off the country's southern coast, a project for which it formed Japan Viet Nam Petroleum Co. (OGJ, Oct. 5, p. 37). Drilling is to begin by yearend 1993 after Viet Nam approves the joint venture. The exploration area covers about 3,370 sq km in 20-60 m of water about 80-200 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
MOBIL EXPLORATION & PRODUCING PERU extended by 6 months the first stage of its 2 year, three stage exploration contract in Peru's Huallaga basin with Petroleos del Peru to evaluate results to date. Mobil also asked Petroperu for approval to drop two of its four blocks, 30 and 53. Mobil drilled a dry hole on Block 30 in February and is assessing wildcat locations north of its Ponacillo dry hole while analyzing geochemical and petrology data from field work completed in August. Mobil has conducted 13,000 km of aeromagnetic and 1,609 line km of seismic surveys under the program.
TRANSPORTATION
SUI SOUTHERN GAS CO. LTD. (SSGC), Karachi, plans a $600 million expansion and upgrade of its gas processing, transmission, and distribution facilities in Pakistan's Sindh and Baluchistan provinces the next 4 years. SSGC will jump overall transmission capacity to 640 MMcfd from 500 MMcfd by laying a 408 km high pressure line from recently discovered Kandanwari gas field near Khairpur, Sindh, to Karachi. It also plans to expand the Quetta pipeline to 42 MMcfd from 27 MMcfd by installing main line compressors at Sibi.
BANGLADESH seeks $350 million in foreign aid to lay a 50 km pipeline and develop Bakhrabad gas field in Northeast Bangladesh. The line would link six proposed wells in the field to the national gas grid at Ashugunj, east of Dhaka. Total cost is pegged at $550 million. Bangladesh asked World Bank to fund the project, and the bank is seeking support from Japan's Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund and the U.K.'s Overseas Development Agency.
TRANSCONTINENTAL GAS PIPE LINE CORP. (TGPL) rerouted an undisclosed volume of gas through B, C, and D main lines in Dallas County, Ala., after an explosion and fire early Oct. 5 in a rural area about 6 miles north of Selma, Ala., interrupted flow through the A Line. Following the accident, local officials evacuated about 700 persons from a 5 mile radius around the site. Investigators from TGPL, National Transportation Safety Board, and Department of Transportation last week were seeking the cause of the blast.
PANARCTIC OILS LTD., Calgary, delivered its second summer shipment of Bent Horn crude from Cameron Island in Canada's Arctic Islands to Montreal via the MV Arctic tanker. The 153,000 bbl load of light crude follows a 153,000 bbl load delivered in August (OGJ, Sept. 7, p. 35).
PANHANDLE EASTERN PIPE LINE CO. (PEPL), Houston, filed with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a proposed settlement to cancel its Canadian gas supply contract and thus end PEPL's obligations to buy gas from Northwest Alaskan Pipe Line Co. and Pan-Alberta Gas Ltd. The agreement with Pan-Alberta hinges on FERC approval of the mechanism for PEPL to collect the settlement from its customers and calls for an affiliate of Pan-Alberta to assume PEPL's 150 MMcfd of capacity on Northern Border Pipeline Co.
ANR PIPELINE CO., Detroit, submitted its Order 636 compliance filing to FERC Oct. 1, including plans to unbundle all sales and transportation services on its system. Under the filing, any gas sold by ANR will be sold upstream on its system. Transportation and storage will be offered under various rate schedules on an open access basis, with shippers having the option of choosing transportation services on a notice or no notice basis. ANR also established a mechanism to recover costs it may incur to implement Order 636.
DEN NORSKE STATS OLJESELSKAP AS let a 170 million kroner ($2.9 million) contract to Kvaerner AS, Stavanger, for hookup work at the Karsto pipeline terminal in Southwest Norway. Prefabrication will start November on three compressor packages for the Statpipe expansion that Kvaerner will install in January-August 1993.
GAS PROCESSING
GPM GAS CORP., Houston, a unit of Phillips Petroleum Co., exchanged its Douglas processing plant and gas gathering system in Converse and Campbell counties, Wyo., for the Tyrone gas gathering system in Beaver and Texas counties, Okla., owned by KN Energy Inc., Lakewood, Colo., plus an undisclosed amount of cash. Phillips 66 Co. will continue to buy natural gas liquids from the Douglas plant. The Tyrone system will tie into GPM's Texas and Oklahoma gathering systems, and the Douglas plant to KN's network.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
HAMILTON OIL (MALAYSIA) CORP hired Clearways Drilling's Eagle semisubmersible for the next drilling program on Block PM-3 off Malaysia. The next well, 2 Bunga Orkid, will be downdip from 1 Bunga Orkid wildcat (OGJ, Sept. 23, 1991, p. 24) and spud about Dec. 1. Depending on results, 1 East Bunga Orkid will be drilled next on a separate fault block.
PLAINS PETROLEUM OPERATING CO., Lakewood, Colo., purchased for about $10 million assets in Wyoming's Powder River basin that include interests in 64 producing oil wells with estimated proved developed reserves of about 2 million bbl. The wells produced an average 900 b/d this year net to the acquired interest and will increase Plains' oil production by about 30%.
CANEAGLE RESOURCES CORP., a new company managed by Eagle Resources Ltd., Calgary, purchased the Canadian assets of Forest Oil Corp., Denver, for $51.25 million (Canadian), including estimated proved reserves of 23 bcf of gas and 1.8 million bbl of oil as of June 1. Forest, which will retain an equity interest in CanEagle, estimates the sale will reduce its overhead costs by about $1 million (U.S.)/year.
TEXACO EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION INC. sold 300 oil and gas leases in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico to 75 bidders at an auction conducted by EBCO Resources Inc., Oklahoma City. Highest bids included $225,000 for a Roger Mills County, Okla., lease and $180,000 for a Beckham County, Okla., lease. Phillips Petroleum Co. will offer 174 of its leases in Texas, Kansas, and Rocky Mountain states at an EBCO sale Oct. 20 in Houston.
PENTEX OIL LTD., Aberdeen, received U.K. Department of Trade & Industry approval for development of East Glenworth oil field in Lincolnshire. Production will begin early in November. Pentex expects to recover 135,000 bbl in 10 years.
TARRAGON OIL & GAS LTD., Calgary, agreed to buy a significant part of the Southeast Saskatchewan leases of Home Oil Co. Ltd. and Scurry-Rainbow Oil Ltd., both of Calgary, for $16.9 million (Canadian). Closing is expected in first half 1993 on assets that include about 930 b/d of working interest oil production and 300 b/d of royalty oil. Covered in the deal are about 132,000 net acres of undeveloped land with average working interest of more than 80%.
NAHAMA & WEAGANT ENERGY CO., Bakersfield, Calif., purchased all the California oil and gas leases of Benton Oil & Gas Co., Oxnard, Ventura, Calif., for $2.5 million. Nahama said it was able to terminate most of Benton's gas contracts with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for gas sales at $1.52-1.74/MMBTU and renegotiate contracts for as much as $2.48/MMBTU. The deal includes proved developed gas reserves in the Sacramento Valley of about 4 bcf and proved developed oil reserves of about 700,000 bbl, mainly in Round Mountain oil field.
KERR-MCGEE CORP. set its heaviest Gulf of Mexico platform deck last month in 251 ft of water on Ship Shoal Block 300. The 2,200 ton structure was transported by barge to the site and lifted in one piece over the jacket. The completed platform has 30,000 sq ft of deck space with living quarters for 10. Production from the platform, with capacity of 7,000 b/d of oil and 40 MMcfd of gas, is to begin late this month.
DORSET EXPLORATION LTD., Calgary, will not proceed with a plan to acquire certain leases in the Three Hills-Ghost Pine-Equity area of Alberta from Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. (OGJ, Sept. 28, p. 44).
AMERADA HESS LTD. installed a 16,155 metric ton drilling/production platform jacket for the U.K. North Sea's Scott field with McDermott Scotland Ltd.'s Heeremac DB 102 vessel. Twenty vertical skirt piles were to be in place by mid-October. The utilities platform jacket, being built at McDermott's Ardesier yard, will be installed in March.
COMPANIES
PRUDENTIAL GROUP OF PAKISTAN purchased 5.8 million shares in Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Ltd., Lahore, from Burmah Castrol plc for 116 million rupees ($4.64 million). Burmah is divesting its assets in Pakistan, which also involve interests in Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., Pakistan Burmah Shell, and Burshane Pakistan.
ENVIRONMENT
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY chose Chicago Board of Trade to conduct sales of sulfur dioxide allowances. The acid rain provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments allow utilities, if they have reduced SO2 emissions below specified levels, to sell excess emissions allowances to utilities not meeting the standards.
EPA will conduct a workshop on a proposed testing program for vehicles using fuels containing methylcyclotentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) Oct. 28 in Arlington, Va. The hearing will seek a settlement with Ethyl Corp., which has developed an MMT octane enhancer that EPA rejected in January. Ethyl later sued the agency (OGJ, Jan. 20, P. 26).
GOVERNMENT
U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK (Eximbank) approved three long term loan guarantees totaling $69.8 million to support sales of $79.2 million in U.S. goods and services to Algeria's Sonatrach. Cudd Pressure Control Co. is providing $28.8 million in well workover services, Motorola Inc. is providing a $16.6 million telecommunications system for the Hassi R'Mel-Arzew gas pipeline, and Halliburton Logging Services is providing $33.6 million in services.
PETROCHEMICALS
EXIMBANK approved a $26.1 million loan to support sales of $30 million in goods and services for construction of ethylbenzene and styrene monomer plants in China. Badger Co. will build the units at the existing Daqing Petrochemical Works in Daqing City in Northeast China (OGJ, Aug. 3, p. 33). Completion is scheduled by July 1995.
XYTEL-BECHTEL INC., using technology developed by Phillips Petroleum Co., is marketing small and mid-sized modular tertiary amyl methyl ether plants for the fluid catalytic cracking isoamylene feedstock market. Capacities range to 3,000 b/d. Use of standardized design allows the units to be ready for shipment within 1 year of approval of a firm, lump sum price.
SPILLS
INDONESIAN authorities intercepted the 96,000 dwt Nagasaki Spirit tanker 26 miles off Belawan, northern Sumatra, Oct. 29, as salvor Sembawang Maritime Ltd. was towing the vessel. It allegedly was still partly loaded in violation of Malaysian orders to offload all oil before moving the vessel. The tanker collided with a container ship in Malacca Strait Sept. 20, spilling about 95,000 bbl of crude (OGJ, Oct. 5, p. 36). Meantime, Kuala Lumpur officials warned authorities in southern Thailand that strong winds were pushing an oil slick their way.
ALYESKA PIPELINE SERVICE CO., Anchorage, renewed and extended long term contracts with Tidewater Inc., New Orleans, covering the charter of six emergency response vessels through July 1998. The modified vessels are part of the Ship Escort Response Vessel System (Servs) Alyeska created to help prevent and respond to oil tanker spills in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The vessels escort tankers through the sound, provide support and towing services in emergencies, and are equipped to handle initial spill response.
U.S. COAST GUARD proposed a rule under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act that requires tankers to carry equipment for oil spill recovery. The proposal sets different requirements for oceangoing tankers, offshore tank barges, coastal tank barges, and inland tank barges.
ASSOCIATIONS
INDEPENDENT PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA postponed a trade mission to Russia until spring, citing delays by the Russian government in completing arrangements. Representatives of 15 independent oil companies plan to make the trip, originally scheduled for late October (OGJ, Sept. 28, p. 31).
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
