INDUSTRY BRIEFS

LABOR

SUN CO. agreed to give 100 shares of restricted Sun stock to each of 294 employees represented by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 990 in Philadelphia in a unique provision in collective bargaining agreements. Local 990 represents workers at Sun's 130,000 b/d Philadelphia refinery. Shares received will be less than 100 due to income tax withholding. The value of 100 shares as of July 1 was $2,587.50. The stock payment is in addition to a general wage increase and settlement of a number of other labor issues.

SPILLS

CLEANUP CREWS pumped toxic chemicals and propane from three derailed tankcars near Superior, Wis., July 1 and lifted from the Nemadji River one tankcar that had been carrying benzene. Floating booms were placed in the river to contain the benzene. Another derailed tankcar contained about 35,000 gal of propane, and a third tanker contained butadiene. Early reports said about 50,000 persons were evacuated from the area (OGJ, July 6, P. 37), but later reports said only about 22,500 people were moved temporarily.

MARINE SPILL RESPONSE CORP. launched California Responder at Halter Marine Inc.'s Moss Point, Miss., shipyard, the fourth of 16 launches planned this year by MSRC to create a fleet of vessels to respond to major oil spills in U.S. coastal waters. Work on California Responder is to continue at Halter Marine's yard following the launch, with homeporting of the completed vessel expected this fall at Port Hueneme, Calif.

COMPANIES

WISER OIL CO., Dallas, proposes to merge Hadson Energy Resources Corp., Oklahoma City, with a Wiser subsidiary. Wiser plans to offer $14/share cash to Hadson stockholders or $14 worth of Wiser common stock for each share of Hadson common. If Hadson stockholders elect to receive more than 49.5% of the total merger consideration in cash, the cash portion of the merger will be prorated. The merger is subject to conditions.

LASMO PLC completed the pricing and underwriting for an initial public offering of Ultramar Corp. stock, completing the disposal of Ultramar plc's refining and marketing assets (OGJ, June 15, p. 23) and leaving Lasmo as an exploration and production company. With Ultramar, Lasmo figures it bought 655 million bbl of oil equivalent at a net cost of 1.75 ($3.26)/bbl. Lasmo expects to net $1.23 billion from the disposal of Ultramar Corp.

COASTAL CORP. formed Coastal Petroleum NV to market products from its 150,000 b/d Aruba refinery and to buy and sell crude and refined products in international markets. Main offices will be in Aruba adjacent to the refinery, with about 25 employees to be in place by the end of the month. Offices in London and Singapore will provide support services.

ETHYL PETROLEUM ADDITIVES INC., Richmond, completed the purchase of the petroleum additives business of Amoco Petroleum Additives Co. for more than $100 million (OGJ, May 11, p. 37). The purchase, which includes technology and a plant at Natchez, Miss., is expected to add about $250 million/year in sales to Ethyl's petroleum additives division, which had 1991 sales of about $700 million.

AES CORP., Arlington, Va., and Sonat Inc., Birmingham, Ala., agreed to form a 50-50 venture to develop, own, and operate natural gas fueled independent power projects in North America. AES/Sonat Power will be headquartered in Arlington. AES will have lead responsibility for project siting, permitting, power purchase contract negotiations, and plant development. Sonat will obtain gas supply for projects and arrange for its transportation.

TRANSPORTATION

TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION authorized Seminole Pipeline Co., Tulsa, to empty a liquefied petroleum gas salt dome storage cavern near Brenham, Tex., as part of an investigation into the cause of three explosions and a fire Apr. 7 (OGJ, July 6, p. 34). Pumping, which was to start July 8, will require about 6 weeks. The LPG will be pumped into a nearby 14 in. pipeline.

JAYHAWK PIPELINE CORP., Wichita, completed the purchase of Conoco Pipe Line Co.'s Kansas crude gathering system that consists of about 482 miles of pipeline from Russell, Kan., to Ponca City, Okla. The acquisition will allow shippers to consolidate nominations and scheduling into one pipeline system. Jayhawk is a joint venture of Coastal Refining & Marketing Inc. and National Cooperative Refinery Association, Wichita.

NAHAMA & WEAGANT ENERGY CO., Bakersfield, Calif., and undisclosed joint venture partners are seeking proposals from third parties interested in developing underground gas storage reservoirs in Mist gas field in Northwest Oregon. The joint venture owns 5-6 bcf of total working gas volume and deliverability of 50 MMcfd. The two storage pools in the field, owned by an Oregon utility, are in operation and provide the utility 20% of its winter gas supply.

A UNIT of Hong Kong's Nam Kwong (Group) Co. Ltd. began construction of a $45 million oil terminal at Coloane Island, Macau, that will include an oil port and 14 storage tanks with capacity of about 54,000 bbl. The terminal is to be complete in 1994. An agreement between Nam Kwong and a franchise of Macau International Airport calls for the franchise to invest $13 million to build an oil pipeline between the terminal and the airport.

ZIMBABWE'S National Oil Co. let a 90 million kroner ($14.7 million) contract to Norway's Kvaerner Energy for electromechanical work for a refined products underground storage cavern under construction near Harare. The project is to be complete late in 1994.

A U.S. HOUSE public works subcommittee voted to require the U.S. Department of Transportation to consider the environmental effect of any new rules governing pipeline operations. DOT currently considers only how rules affect persons and property. In a bill reauthorizing the pipeline safety program, the subcommittee diluted a new provision requiring DOT to mandate the use of automatic shutoff valves on gas distribution pipelines. It decided only to require DOT to study the need for the valves.

CANADA'S National Energy Board ordered Trans Mountain Pipe Line Co. Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., to cut 8.3% of increased tolls levied on an interim basis since last Jan. 1 on its Edmonton to Vancouver, B.C. crude pipeline. The order also cut tolls by 2.7% from 1991 levels. NEB also reduced the annual rate of return on equity for Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc. (IPL), Edmonton, to 12.5% from 13.25%. NEB imposed stand alone tolls on IPL's mothballed crude line from Sarnia, Ont., to Montreal, but approved IPL's request for integrated tolls while it is operating for west-east service. IPL plans to reopen the line for a limited time (OGJ, June 22, p. 41).

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

BROKEN HILL PTY. CO. LTD. said oil production from BHP Petroleum's Timor Sea operations reached 100 million bbl. Jabiru field, which began production in 1986, has produced 70 million bbl, Challis-Cassini field has produced about 27 million bbl since start-up in 1989, and Skua field, placed on stream in 1991, has produced about 3 million bbl.

ARAN ENERGY EXPLORATION LTD. agreed to buy a 33.33% interest in North Sea Block 211/24a from Chevron U.K. Ltd. The deal will include Chevron's interest in Dunlin oil field and associated share in the Brent pipeline system. Depending on field adjustments and commercial arrangements, the price will be $19-26 million.

EXPLORATION

ARCO YEMEN INC. purchased the Yemen interests of Tullow Oil plc for $5.25 million, which covers the purchase price and prepaid work program consideration. Tullow also will receive a production bonus for any commercial discoveries made from the first three wildcats on the Yemen acreage that includes the North Sanau block, bordering Saudi Arabia.

KIRKLAND GROUP received a coalbed methane exploration license in South Wales covering 100 sq km adjacent to a 600 sq km area from Glydach to Yystradgynlais awarded the group late last year. Kirkland Group includes operator Kirkland Resources (Holdings) plc 55%, J. Makowski (CBM) Ltd. 30%, Resource Enterprises Ltd. 7.5%, Hagley Resources (U.K.) Ltd. 3%, Ashdown Resources Ltd. 2.25%, and Ayrshire Production Co. (U.K.) Ltd. 2.25%.

ASAMERA OIL (INDONESIA) LTD. 1 Kuala Langsa on Block A in Sumatra flowed at a rate of about 36 MMcfd of gas that was about 81% CO2 and 19% hydrocarbons during testing of the upper half of a pay zone. Previous testing of the lower half yielded gas 83% CO2 and 17% hydrocarbons. The well is the second in a six well program (OGJ, May 11, p. 37). Asamera is drilling the Peutouw structure on Block A. Aceh Gas & Oil Co. Inc. holds a 50% interest in the block.

MITSUBISHI OIL CO. plans to spend about $77 million exploring Block 15-2 covering 3,370 sq km off the south coast of Viet Nam just north of Bach Ho field. The program is to begin within 6 months of signing the 5 year contract (OGJ, June 22. p. 38). National oil company Petrovietnam and Mitsubishi have yet to decide how they will divide production, Asahi News Service reported, but a formal agreement is to be signed in August or September.

COPLEX RESOURCES NL and Aladdin Middle East Ltd. reentered the 1 Sarkoy well in Turkey's Thrace basin, abandoned by Turkish National Oil Co. in 1975, with a view to testing. "Good to excellent" oil shows were encountered in fractured Eocene Mecidiye limestone at 4,756-4,805 ft. Total depth is 6,061 ft. Coplex does not expect to spend more than $270,000 on the project.

EXPORTS-IMPORTS

RUSSIA reported it earned as much as $200 million/year in net profits from an arrangement whereby it delivered crude to Venezuelan customers in Europe and Venezuela met part of the former U.S.S.R.'s oil export obligations to Cuba. Venezuela halted the practice late last year after Russia reneged on the commitment made by the former Soviet government (OGJ, June 29, Newsletter).

IWATANI INTERNATIONAL CORP., Osaka, plans to market liquefied petroleum gas in the relatively untapped Chinese market, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. LPG import terminals are to be built in Shenzhen and Dalian during the next 2 years, with total investment of about 5 billion yen. LPG will be imported from the Middle East. Iawatani expects to supply about 40% of China's LPG consumption, which is expected to double to about 100,000 tons/year in a few years.

GOVERNMENT

THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT'S $1.03 billion stock offering in Total drew investors trying to buy more than 27 million shares, more than three times the number set aside. International and U.S. offerings of stock also attracted more than enough offers. The government sold 22.9 million shares it owned in the company for 230 francs ($45)/share in its effort to reduce its stake in Total to 15% from 34% (OGJ, June 29, Newsletter).

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF JAPAN agreed to lend as much as 700 billion yen ($5.5 billion) to Bank of China to help finance oil and coal development projects. The 15 year loan will help finance 27 projects, including 14 onshore and four offshore oil development projects and five coal development projects.

JAPAN'S EXIMBANK agreed to provide Algeria's Sontrach a 12-48 billion yen ($98.3 million) untied loan to finance Algeria's projects to boost capacity and efficiency of oil production,

PETROCHEMICALS

FINA OIL & CHEMICAL CO., Dallas, agreed to buy Hoechst Celanese Corp.'s 350 million lb/year high density polyethylene business and related assets at Bayport, Tex. Value of the deal was not disclosed. In a second transaction, Hoechst Celanese will purchase Fina's 26% interest in Cape Industries, Wilmington, N.C., a dimethyl terephthalate manufacturer in which it already owns a 74% interest.

AMOCO CHEMICAL CO. began operating a 300 million lb/year polypropylene unit at its Chocolate Bayou chemical plant near Alvin, Tex. The unit generates minimal wastewater and air emissions, and the gas phase process using Amoco's high yield catalyst streamlines manufacturing steps. The unit enables Amoco to offer a full range of polypropylene products.

CHIBA STYRENE MONOMER LTD. CO. let contract to ABB Lummus Crest Inc. for licensed process technology, basic engineering, and start-up assistance for a 250,000 metric ton/year styrene unit to be built at Chiba, Japan. The unit will use Lummus-Unocal-UOP liquid phase zeolite ethylbenzene technology. The $160 million project is scheduled for completion in second quarter 1994.

A U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY laboratory will work with Amoco Oil Co. to develop a technique to produce ethanol from cellulose in waste paper. A pilot plant will be built to demonstrate the process, which uses enzymes to break down cellulose into sugars that can be converted to ethanol. Amoco will spend $25 million and DOE $4 million.

REFINING

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING & MATERIALS chose Howell Hydrocarbons & Chemicals Inc., Houston, as the manufacturer of a low sulfur diesel reference fuel. The new fuel, LRD-4, will be used to certify lubricants for use in the 1994 low emissions, heavy duty engines required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.