INDUSTRY BRIEFS

GAS PROCESSING

MOBIL NATURAL GAS INC. let contract to Williams Field Services, Tulsa, operator/agent for Northwest Pipeline Corp., to gather and process as much as 90 MMcfd of gas from Mobil fields near Big Piney, Wyo. Gas will be processed at the Opal plant near Kemmerer, Wyo., and delivered to the Opal hub. Northwest will invest in gathering lines, loops, and compression in Southwest Wyoming to meet contract requirements. Construction is to begin this summer.

REFINING

AN EXPLOSION June 8 at the 38,000 b/d Frontier refinery at Cheyenne, Wyo., owned by Wainoco Oil Corp., Houston, killed one worker and injured five. After the explosion, of unknown cause, a 20,000 gal naphtha storage tank and 250,000 gal tank of raw unleaded gasoline caught fire, The fire caused no damage to operating units, but some areas of the refinery were temporarily shut down to avoid added risk. At presstime last week, Wainoco expected all operating units to be running normally by June 14.

ESSO NEDERLAND BV let a contract valued at about $150 million to Fluor Daniel By for engineering, procurement, and construction management services for installation of a hydrocracker and modification of plant systems at its 185,000 b/d Rotterdam refinery. Detailed engineering is under way, and project completion is scheduled by yearend 1994.

CHEVRON PRODUCTS CO. let contract to Jacobs Engineering Group, Pasadena, Calif., to upgrade and debottleneck the diesel hydrotreater at its Pascagoula, Miss., refinery. The $18 million project will expand the unit's capacity to 35,000 b/d from 23,000 b/d and will reduce sulfur level in diesel fuel to less than 0.06 wt %. Start-up is scheduled for mid-1993.

STE. NATIONALE ELF AQUITAINE let contract to France's Technip for a feasibility study of a 120,000 b/d refinery at Perak, Malaysia. In January, Malaysia's government granted Elf a license to build and operate a refinery. Elf said the project could be developed in partnership with other companies seeking to market petroleum products in the area.

COGENERATION

SARANAC POWER PARTNERS LP will purchase about 52 MMcfd of natural gas for 15 years from Shell Canada Ltd. for a 240,000 kw cogeneration plant to be built near Plattsburgh, N.Y. Falcon Seaboard, Houston, is project developer. The gas will be shipped from Shell's gas processing plants in Alberta via TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.'s system to a new Canadian export point near Napierville, Que.

LG&E DEVELOPMENT CORP., Fairfax Va., broke ground for a $110 million, 79,000 kw, gas fired cogeneration plant at Port of Rensselaer, N.Y. (OGJ, Sept. 9, 1991, Newsletter). Electricity will be supplied to Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. and steam to BASF Corp.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

BP EXPLORATION placed Miller field on stream at a rate of 20,000 b/d of oil from a single well. About 160 miles northeast of Aberdeen, the development is one of the biggest recent North Sea projects at a cost of $2.25 billion. Production is to peak at 113,000 b/d, to be maintained for 4 years of the field's 10 year life. First gas is expected in July at a rate of 100 MMcfd. Estimated reserves are 240 million bbl of oil and 460 bcf of gas.

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM LTD. (IPL), Dubai, completed preproject engineering for development of Baukha gas/condensate field in the Persian Gulf off Oman (OGJ, July 1, 1991, p. 28). The development plan includes completing two of the field's three wells and moving production to shore through a 35 km, 16 in. subsea line for processing at Khor Kwair. The project at first will yield about 4,400 b/d of condensate, 1,100 b/d of liquefied petroleum gas, and 40 MMcfd of residue gas. IPL completed funding of its 47.25% interest through a $25 million project loan facility.

A GROUP led by Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. let a $50 million (Canadian) contract to Dresser-Rand Canada Inc., Toronto, for drilling platform equipment for the Hibernia oil development project off Newfoundland. Dresser will supply turbine gas compressors and other equipment for gas injection and two 23,000 kw generators to power the platform.

GULF CANADA RESOURCES LTD. let a 3 year contract to Global Marine Inc., Houston, to market, maintain, and operate the Kulluk ice strengthened floating drilling unit and four large icebreaker support vessels owned by BeauDril, Calgary, a 45% owned Gulf Canada subsidiary. Kulluk and two ice breakers are expected to move to Alaska this year to begin drilling on ARCO Alaska Inc.'s Kuvlum prospect in the U.S. Beaufort Sea.

SAGA PETROLEUM AS'S report on commerciality of Midgard field off Central Norway (OGJ, Mar. 30, p. 19) won partners' endorsement. Development awaits approval of Norway's parliament, whose review is expected next year. Saga's partners are Den norske stats oljeselskap AS, Norske Shell, Neste Oy, Norsk Hydro, Norsk Agip AS, and Deminex Norge AS.

ARCO plans to sell its 17.5% interest in Wytch Farm field, the U.K.'s largest onshore field, currently producing more than 80,000 b/d of oil equivalent. The sale will be handled by Morgan Grenfell. ARCO's interest is thought to be worth 180-200 million. The field includes an offshore reservoir, to be developed by British Petroleum Co. plc drilling directionally from shore (OGJ, Jan. 6, p. 24). ARCO also plans to sell interests in Amethyst field and the V complex fields in the U.K. North Sea.

CONOCO NORWAY INC. let a 400 million kroner ($64 million) contract to Kongsberg Offshore Subsea, Kongsberg, Norway, for engineering, procurement, and construction of two templates, six Christmas trees, and standard tool packages for Heidrun field in the Norwegian Sea off Norway. Conoco recently revised its subsea water injection plans for Heidrun (OGJ, Mar. 30, p. 19).

EKOFISK FIELD in the Norwegian North Sea is producing slightly more than its usual 250,000 b/d to reduce pressure built up during shutdown after an air filter fire on one of its platforms. Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway put the field back on full production June 1. Valhall field and satellite Hod, which move oil to Teesside, U.K., via Ekofisk are producing 114,000 b/d, up 14,000 b/d.

EVERGREEN RESOURCES INC., Denver, ran production casing in its 1 Sealand coalbed methane well, the first drilled in the U.K., and made two successful completions in coal seams with total thickness of about 74 ft. The well is south of Liverpool on one of Evergreen's seven onshore licenses (OGJ, Sept. 23, 1991, p. 23). Further completion activity and testing was under way late last month. Evergreen plans to spud two more wells as soon as it obtains permits.

CNG

MESA INC., Dallas, tentatively agreed with Tanner Industries, Phoenix to finance conversion of 20 fleet vehicles to compressed natural gas. In exchange, Tanner agreed to buy natural gas from Mesa at the equivalent of gasoline prices. Mesa has offered to finance public and private fleet conversions to CNG in the Phoenix area in return for gas purchase agreements. The Arizona Corporation Commission approved a special tariff devised to promote development of a CNG vehicle market and refueling sites in the Phoenix area.

COMPANIES

ALAMCO INC. Clarksburg, W.Va., agreed to settle gas purchase contract claims against Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. for $11 million, subject to bankruptcy court approval. Alamco's share of the claim is about 45% with the balance held by interest owners in wells included in the contracts. Alamco agreed to stay pending litigation in West Virginia arising from take or pay contract disputes dating to 1986.

TRANSPORTATION

GAZ DE FRANCE let a $30 million contract to the Thermodyn division of Framatome for five natural gas compression sets. One will be used at the Chemery underground gas storage site in the Loir et Cher area, two at the Taisnieres compressor station in northern France for compression of gas from Troll field off Norway, and two at the Cere la Ronde underground storage site in the Indre et Loire region.

OFFSHORE PIPELINES INTERNATIONAL LTD. completed on schedule the $93 million Takula onshore storage project in Angola's Cabinda enclave under contract from Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd. (OGJ, Apr. 6, p. 40).

PETRONAS GAS SDN. BHD. let an estimated $56 million contract to Brown & Root (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. for engineering, procurement, and construction services for a 30,000 hp compressor station at Kuantan, Pahang state, and a metering/regulating station at Paka, Terengganu state. The compressor station will maintain flow throughout Malaysia's Peninsular Gas Utilization pipeline system. Engineering is under way, with construction to begin in early August and start-up slated for February 1994.

CANADA'S National Energy Board will begin hearings Aug. 4 in Calgary on an application by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. for a $499.5 million (Canadian) gas pipeline expansion. The proposed 227 MMcfd increase in capacity would mainly serve export markets in the U.S. Northeast through the Iroquois pipeline system.

EXPLORATION

PANOCO INC., Nyon, Switzerland, agreed with Tatarstan President Muhammat Sabirov to sign a contract for joint exploration in the Russian autonomous republic with Tateneft Oil & Gas Association as partner. Meantime, Panoco has increased the estimate for total investment in its Blue Kama oil field development, exploration, and refinery venture in Tatarstan to $1.2 billion from the original $600 million (OGJ, Sept. 23, 1991, p. 69). The increase follows a jump in estimated reserves covered by the venture to 2.65 billion bbl from 1.69 billion bbl.

BRITISH PETROLEUM CO. PLC resumed operations in Nigeria after a hiatus of nearly 12 years (OGJ, Jan. 20, p. 67). A Statoil-BP venture operated by Statoil (Nigeria) Ltd. will spend about $300 million in Nigerian exploration the next 5 years.

ASHLAND EXPLORATION INC. acquired a 20% interest in a license to explore and develop 355,000 acre Block EP 341 off Northwest Australia operated by Command Petroleum Holdings NL. Seismic surveys and evaluation of the block will begin this summer. Two wells are to be drilled in 1993-94.

ALASKA drew no bidders in state Sale 68 covering 153,445 leases off Barrow in the Beaufort Sea, the first time an Alaska state sale has had no bids.

RANGER OIL (U.K.) LTD.'S 22/22b-2 wildcat in the North Sea, about 130 miles east of Aberdeen, flowed at an average stabilized rate of 3,900 b/d of 40 gravity oil and 6.5 MMcfd of gas through a restricted choke. Flow rates were less than the well's capacity due to limits of surface test equipment. Total depth is 16,555 ft.

EASTERN LOUISIANA U.S. DISTRICT COURT dismissed a suit the state filed to block federal Sale 135 in the western Gulf of Mexico held Aug. 21, 1991. The court's action allows Minerals Management Service to issue 135 leases.

SULFUR

ABU DHABI NATIONAL OIL CO. started up a sulfur recovery unit at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, that will convert to dry granules liquid sulfur produced from Habshan and Das Island fields and Ruwais and Umm Al Nar refineries for transport from the Ruwais industrial complex. The unit has 8,500 tons of liquid sulfur storage capacity and three dry sulfur units.

SPILLS

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION plans an Aug. 12 hearing in Washington, D.C., on a proposed rule to assess damages for nonuse of federal natural resources following oil spills. The 1990 Oil Pollution Act requires NOAA to issue a rule on the subject.

PETROCHEMICALS

AMOCO CHEMICAL CO. began engineering on its proposed 300,000-400,000 metric ton/year paraxylene plant venture with Saudi Chemical Investments (OGJ, Oct. 9, 1989, Newsletter). The plant is to be built in Saudi Arabia near the Petromin Shell Refining Co. Al Jubail refinery, which will provide feedstocks for the plant.

INDELPRO SA DE CV started up a 150,000 metric ton/year polypropylene plant at Altamira, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, using Himont Inc. process technology to produce polypropylene homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers. Original plant design capacity was increased 10% to better match Mexico's domestic polypropylene demand of more than 175,000 metric tons/year. Indelpro is a joint venture of Grupo Industrial Alfa 51% and Himont 49%.

ENVIRONMENT

TEXAS WATER COMMISSION adopted final rules allowing salt dome disposal of hazardous waste, effectively ending a permit moratorium declared in February 1991 by Gov. Ann Richards, TWC's rules require a demonstration that waste will not migrate for 15,000 years from permitted salt dome injection zones--5,000 years longer than required by the Environmental Protection Agency. Waste injection zones must be at least 1/4 mile from the nearest drinking water source, and storage caverns must be at least 500 ft inside a salt dome's perimeter.

Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.