INDUSTRY BRIEFS

ENVIRONMENT

UNION CARBIDE CORP. opened the first full scale, multiplastics recycling plant in the U.S. at Piscataway, N.J. The plant, which can recycle 27,000 tons/year of plastics, will accept postconsumer polyethylene film, high density polyethylene (HDPE), and polyethylene terephthalate. Recyclable plastics are being obtained from curbside recycling programs sponsored by communities in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania that are within 250 miles of the plant.

PHILLIPS PLASTICS RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP started up an 18 million lb/year HDPE recycling plant in Tulsa that serves Oklahoma and surrounding states. The plant can be expanded to recycle 40 million lb/year. The current capacity is equal to about 150 million plastic bottles/year.

PETROCHEMICALS

P.T. PUSAKA WARNA POLYPROPYLENE (JAKARTA) will use Union Carbide Corp. polyolefins technology for Indonesia's first fully integrated polyethylene/polypropylene plant at Serang, West Java. The proposed plant's capacity is 200,000 metric tons/year of polyethylene and 140,000 tons/year of polypropylene. Sinopec Engineering Inc., Beijing, is prime contractor. Start-up is scheduled in fourth quarter 1994.

GREECE'S Light Hydrocarbons Processing SA chose UOP to license all process technology for the first world scale methyl tertiary butyl ether plant in the Mediterranean region. The 500,000 metric ton/year MTBE plant will be built at Astakos on Greece's west coast. Technologies selected include Butamer for butane isomerization, Oleflex for isobutane dehydrogenation, Ethermax for MTBE synthesis, and ORU for oxygenates removal. Start-up is scheduled for 1994.

FLETCHER CHALLENGE LTD. signed a 10 year methanol supply contract with Japan's Nippon Steel Chemical Co. and Marubeni Corp. that could be worth more than $1 billion (New Zealand) in sales revenue. Fletcher will supply as much as 300,000 metric tons/year of methanol to be distributed mainly in Japan and in South Korea and Taiwan.

ABB LUMMUS CREST INC.'S short residence time (SRT) ethylene technology was used in three South Korean grassroots ethylene plants that started up in second half 1991. They are Samsung General Chemicals Co.'s 400,000 metric ton/year plant at Daesan, Lucky Ltd.'s 350,000 ton/year plant at Yeo-Chon, and Korea Petrochemical Industry Co. Ltd.'s 250,000 ton/year plant at Onsan. All three plants can use naphtha, gas oil, or other liquids as feedstocks.

GOVERNMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY earmarked $57 million for fossil fuel research in its 1993 budget, not $57 billion as incorrectly reported (OGJ, Feb. 3, p. 25).

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

SAUDI ARABIAN OIL GO. let a $150 million contract to a joint venture of Bechtel Corp. and Consolidated Contractors International for a 300,000 b/d oil/gas separation plant to be built in the Hawiyah area of Ghawar field. The project is part of Saudi Aramco's plan to increase Saudi Arabia's total sustainable capacity to 10 million b/d. Contract includes expansion of two existing oil/gas separation plants to a combined 1.2 million b/d from 300,000 b/d.

ALCORN (PRODUCTION) PHILIPPINES INC. and Terminal Installation Inc. let a $11 million contract to Stena Offshore Ltd., Aberdeen, and Clough Stena (Asia) to relocate the floating production system from depleted Cadlao oil field off the Philippines to West Linapacan field off Palawan Island (OGJ, Jan. 27, p. 46). Work will begin this spring. Alcorn is expected to run an extended production test for several years before deciding on full scale field development.

FLETCHER CHALLENGE PETROLEUM LTD. 1 South Calauit appraisal well off Palawan, Philippines, flowed 3,286 b/d of oil through a 1 3/4 in. choke on a drill stem test. The well is 2.1 miles south-southeast of 1B Calauit discovery (OGJ, Mar. 25, 1991, p. 60). A third appraisal, 1 South Busuanga will be drilled 2.4 miles southeast of 1 South Calauit. Depending on results, early production may come via jack up rig linked to a storage tanker.

STE. NATIONALE ELF AQUITAINE is drilling a 21,300 ft well under the Pyrennean overthrust to boost production from Lacq gas field area in Southwest France. Elf spudded 1 Bellvue on the Espiute prospect on Sauveterre and Lavas leases 3 months ago. Drilling is expected to take another 9 months and cost about 150 million francs ($27.7 million). Elf said Lacq gas plant throughput can be maintained until 1997 at almost 106 bcf/year by additional drilling in the area. Lacq production has declined from a peak of 121 bcf/year.

TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION granted 898 permits for horizontal wells in 1991, down from 1,098 in 1990. Austin chalk wells in Pearsall and Giddings fields of South Texas continued to lead U.S. horizontal drilling activity in 1991. Since 1984, TRC has issued 2,196 horizontal drilling permits, including 1,116 in Pearsall field and 521 in Giddings. Operators have reported completing 1,473 horizontal wells statewide, including 842 Pearsall wells and 318 Giddings wells.

REFINING

MARAVEN SA let contract to Foster Wheeler USA Corp. for engineering, procurement, and construction of process units as part of an expansion of its Cardon, Venezuela, refinery. Work includes a 60,000 b/sd six drum delayed coker with a gas plant and caustic treaters, a 45,000 b/sd catalytic platformer with a continuous catalytic regenerator and gas plant, and a 15,000 b/sd isomerization unit. Foster's part of the expansion is valued at $600 million.

PERTAMINA let contract to Pall Process Filtration Co. for supply of a fully automated filtration system for stripping catalyst fines from resid catalytic cracking decant oil at Pertamina's Balongan, Indonesia, refinery. The filters will process as much as 11,000 b/d of decant oil and remove more than 99.5% of all catalyst fines.

ESSO FRANCE commissioned a 120 million franc ($22.2 million) white oils unit at its Port Jerome refinery in Normandy, France. The unit, based on a proprietary, environmentally benign catalytic hydrogenation process, brings total white oil capacity there to 2,600 b/d.

EXPLORATION

ELF AQUITAINE QATAR 3 Alkhalij off Qatar on Block 6 flowed 1,900 b/d of 28 gravity crude through a 1/2 in. choke and as much as 5,150 b/d on pump. It is the third successful completion on the structure (OGJ, Nov. 25, 1991, p. 34), and Elf is considering early development of the field. Elf said the reservoir tested by the three wells has probable reserves of 80 million bbl.

CONOCO (U.K.) LTD. 44/17-2 wildcat on U.K. North Sea Block 44/17 about 110 miles off the Lincolnshire coast flowed at a rate of about 30 MMcfd of gas through a 1 in. choke during a drill stem test of a Carboniferous sand. Stabilized flow rate is estimated at 10-15 MMcfd. Conoco and partners were awarded the block in 1989, and the first discovery well was drilled in 1990 (OGJ, June 18, 1990, p. 26).

CHEVRON U.S.A. PRODUCTION CO. OCS-G5062 wildcat on Mobile Block 861 about 17 miles south of Pascagoula, Miss., cut more than 360 ft of potential gas pay in Jurassic Norphlet. Total depth is 22,103 ft. The discovery was Chevron's third success on the Norphlet trend within the past year. Others are Mobil Block 916 (OGJ, Dec. 30, 1991, p. 36) and Destin Dome Block 56.

NEW ZEALAND OIL & GAS LTD. (NZOG) will run an extended test of its 2 Ngatoro discovery in Taranaki area between Kapuni and Kaimiro fields. The well produced 282 b/d from Moki C sands and is expected to yield 500-1,000 b/d on pump. Two appraisal wells may be drilled. Partners in the lease are ARCO Petroleum New Zealand Inc. 39.67%, NZOG 31.53%, Cairn Energy plc 13.35%, and Minora Energy (New Zealand) Ltd. 4.45%. The New Zealand government has an option to take an 11% interest.

LNG

WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LTD., operator for Australia's NorthWest Shelf LNG project, ordered an eighth LNG carrier as part of the investment required to boost deliveries to Japan from 6 millions metric tons/year to 7.5 million tons/year by the mid 1990s (OGJ, Oct. 7, 1991, p. 47). The 125,000 cu m vessel will be built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

SPILLS

TRANS-ALASKA PIPELINE LIABILITY FUND administrator offered more than $17 million to Alaskan native village corporations for damage caused by the March 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The offer may be appealed. The corporations had asked for more than $100 million for damage to archaeological sites and loss of subsistence sources of food. The $100 million fund was established in 1973 and is funded by a 5cts/bbl tax on North Slope crude. More than 28,000 claimants have sought more than $50 billion in alleged damages stemming from the spill.

TWO BARGES, one carrying styrene and caustic soda and the other carrying limestone, collided Jan. 26 in the Intercoastal Waterway off Morgan, La., spilling 50,000-89,000 gal of styrene and backing up vessels. The seaway was reopened for traffic by Feb. 3. Elsewhere in Louisiana, the U.S. Coast Guard reported three oil spills Feb. 1-2 totaling more than 10,000 gal of oil. All were being cleaned up as of Feb. 3.

COMPANIES

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT will sell its 25% interest in Suncor Inc., Toronto, and Sun Company Inc., owner of about 75% of Suncor, will offer 20% interest in Suncor to the market. The government paid $650 million (Canadian) in 1981 for its interest. Suncor values its assets at $2.3 billion, including $528 million for exploration and production operations, $795 million for the oilsands group, and $978 million for the refining and marketing unit.

TESORO ALASKA PETROLEUM CO., San Antonio, filed suit in Anchorage against Atlantic Richfield Co. and Arco Alaska Inc. for more than $50 million in damages alleging misrepresentation related to ARCO's reports to the state about the price or value of its Alaskan North Slope crude. In September 1990 ARCO agreed to pay Alaska $287 million in back royalties to settle litigation for unpaid royalty payments, and the state is now seeking more money from Tesoro Alaska for the crude it purchased.

COGENERATION

NORTH CANADIAN OILS LTD., Calgary, through its North Canadian Marketing unit signed a 15 year gas supply contract with Kamine/Besicorp Natural Dam LP for 12 MMcfd starting Nov. 1, 1993, to fuel a planned 49,000 kw cogeneration plant in Gouverner, N.Y. North Canadian will initially receive $1.56/MMBTU at the Alberta border, increasing during the contract term. Cogeneration plants at Beaver Falls and Syracuse, N.Y., also are planned, with North Canadian supplying 16 MMcfd to each.

ENRON POWER SERVICES INC. signed three 15 year contracts with units of EEA Development Inc., Washington, D.C., to supply a total of 43.5 MMcfd of natural gas for three 150,000 mw cogeneration plants EEA is developing in New Jersey. The gas will be sold at market responsive prices. The contracts represent about 50% of EEA's gas supply needs. Enron estimates revenues under the contracts at $500-$600 million.

PIPELINES

MALAYSIA'S Petroliam Nasional Bhd. will supply 150 MMcfd for 15 years to Singapore's Senoko power station using a pipeline under the Straits of Johor, completed late last month. Xinhua News Agency reported Singapore and Malaysia have been working for nearly 10 years to arrange gas supply from Terengganu to Singapore.

TRANSCANADA PIPELINES LTD., Calgary, officially opened the $655 million, 576 MMcfd Iroquois pipeline system Jan. 29, beginning natural gas flow from Alberta to the U.S. Northeast. Some gas has been flowing since December (OGJ, Dec. 9, 1991, p. 24). The pipeline connects at Iroquois, Ont., with a 379 mile line crossing New York and Connecticut to a terminal at South Commack, Long Island. Additional compression is planned this year to increase capacity to 641 MMcfd.

ACQUISITIONS

PAY LESS HOLDINGS INC. intends to buy Canadian Turbo Inc., Calgary, for $62 million (Canadian) and an undisclosed payment to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Turbo operates 340 service stations in West Canada and a refinery near Calgary that has been operating at about 60% capacity. Turbo said the refinery would require a $40 million upgrade to meet federal environmental regulations. A task force will decide whether to keep the refinery operating.

FOREST OIL CORP., Denver, completed purchase of most of the assets of Harbert Energy Corp., Houston, for about $40 million (OGJ, Dec. 23, 1991, p. 28). Assets include producing reserves of about 18.6 bcf of gas and 4.3 million bbl of oil, undeveloped leases, and gas gathering and processing facilities. Forest plans to develop certain core leases and sell smaller unrelated property interests.

LOUISIANA LAND & EXPLORATION CO., Houston, withdrew its offer to purchase the assets of LL&E Royalty Trust (OGJ, Oct. 14, 1991, p. 38), citing the recent decline in oil and gas prices.

Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.