INDUSTRY BRIEFS

SPILLS

WASHINGTON STATE'S Ecology Department fined Barber International, Oslo, $90,000 for a 120 bbl spill in April that dumped oil into Puget Sound and the Columbia River. It also fined Azuero Shipping Japan Ltd. $63,000 for a 70 bbl June oil spill in the same locations. They were cited for improper fueling procedures.

GAS STORAGE

EQUITABLE RESOURCES INC. unit Equitrans Inc.'s proposed Avoca underground gas storage project in New York state moved closer to commercial service after a geological test showed use of a salt cavern is structurally and economically viable. Depending on receipt of regulatory approval, construction likely will start in summer 1994, with the first 3 bcf of storage inventory scheduled to be available for the 1995-96 winter. In the first phase, withdrawal capability will be as much as 300 MMcfd.

GAS PROCESSING

ABU DHABI NATIONAL OIL CO. let contract to Bechtel Corp., Houston, and Technip Inc., Paris, for detailed engineering and construction of a project that will more than triple capacity at the Habshan, U.A.E., gas processing plant to 1 .86 bcfd from 540 MMcfd. Completion is scheduled for yearend 1995. Project cost is estimated at $2 billion. Gas for Habshan comes from Bab field, where productive capacity is being expanded.

PETROCHEMICALS

ARABIAN PETROCHEMICAL CO. started trial production from three processing units in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, that will increase olefins manufacturing capacity by 970,000 metric tons/year to 1.8 million tons. A raw materials separation plant has propylene capacity of 300,000 tons/year, 100,000 tons of butadiene, and 70,000 tons of benzene. Ethylene production will be increased 500,000 tons/year.

COMPANIES

HADSON ENERGY RESOURCES CORP., Oklahoma City, signed a definitive agreement with Apache Corp., Houston, a 68% stockholder of Hadson, in which Apache will acquire Hadson by merging it with an Apache unit. The merger is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by 661/3% of Hadson stockholders other than Apache and its affiliates. The two companies also filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission joint proxy and registration statements that include an offer by Apache to buy Hadson shares in case the merger is not approved by Hadson stockholders.

A TEXAS APPELLATE COURT affirmed the validity of a 1979 gas contract between Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. and Tesoro Exploration & Production Co. and others covering gas produced by Tesoro from the A and B Guerra Units of Bob West field in Zapata County, Tex. The court in San Antonio said Tennessee Gas is required to take or pay for at least 85% of half the seller's delivery capacity from all wells drilled on the units. The court also said gas bought from those units escalates in accordance with Natural Gas Policy Act Section 102(b) (2) prices, currently $7.72/Mcf.

SHAREHOLDERS of Numac Oil & Gas Ltd., Edmonton, approved a merger with Westcoast Petroleum Ltd., Calgary. Numac will move its operations to Calgary and the merged company will be known as Numac Energy Inc. Westcoast is owned by a group of Hong Kong investors.

CANADIAN FRACMASTER LTD., Calgary, plans a $150 million (Canadian) public share offering to finance more work in Canada, Cuba, Hungary, and Czech Republic. The share issue will be in two lots, the first by Fracmaster and the second by Emergo (Cyprus) Ltd., holding company for Fracmaster. Projects include development work in Cuba and coalbed methane production in Hungary and Czech Republic. Fracmaster said its well service business in Canada also is increasing.

LEVIATHAN GAS PIPELINE PARTNERS LP, Houston, a unit of Deeptech International Inc., paid ARCO $2 million for a drilling production platform in 438 ft of water on Ship Shoal Block 332 off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal included a 6 in. oil pipeline from Block 332 to a subsea tap on Shell Pipe Line Corp.'s oil pipeline on South Timbalier Block 299. Ship Shoal 332 platform serves as a junction between Leviathan's Louisiana offshore gathering system and pipeline facilities of Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co., Houston.

XYTEL-BECHTEL INC., Houston, and Seaview Thermal Systems (STS), Blue Bell, Pa., formed an exclusive alliance to engineer and fabricate desorption units based on STS's thermal distillation technology. The units will be used to remediate and recycle hazardous sludges and soils. The process is said to remove and recover hydrocarbons at greater than 99% efficiency.

EUROMIN CANADA LTD., Calgary, acquired a 2.5% interest in the Ogan Komering Block in South Sumatra, Indonesia, from Canasian Energy Ltd. Euromin will pay for the interest with 1.5 million shares of stock valued at $1.28 million (Canadian).

REFINING

CHINA expects to start up in October, 1 year ahead of schedule, the 20,000 b/d Golmud refinery, a key state poverty relief project for the Tibet autonomous region and Qinghai province. The plant is at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains in Qinghai province. Work started in August 1991.

UKRAINE'S government issued a decree calling for the Drogobych refinery, southwest of Lvoy, to build units during 1993-98 that can produce 825,000 metric tons/year of unleaded gasoline, 75,000 tons of solid paraffin, and 300,000 tons of industrial lubricants. Financing is to be obtained from the plant's export profits and foreign credits.

ENVIRONMENT

CHEVRON CORP. let an open end 10 year contract to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., to provide Chevron companies full environmental services. Terms cover front end field investigations through remedial design and construction without geographical limits. Chevron reported 1992 spending of more than $1 .1 billion for environmental protection, including $430 million in capital outlays to improve water quality and reduce air emissions and solid waste.

OXYGENATED FUELS ASSOCIATION reports 1990 Clean Air Act amendments requirements in the U.S. for oxygenated fuels last winter resulted in a dramatic reduction in carbon monoxide pollution from autos. It said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found an 80% reduction in the incidence of poor air quality days in the 20 states in which the program was implemented.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

DUAL DRILLING CO., Dallas, completed its $25.3 million cash purchase of the Vanguard 11 jack up rig from Huthnance International Inc. The rig has been renamed Dual Rig 92 and will continue working for Conoco Inc. off Indonesia under a term contract. Dual's offshore rig fleet consists of 11 jack ups and 10 platform units.

SAMEDAN OIL CORP., Houston, hired Mustang Engineering, also of Houston, for engineering design and project management for a well protector platform, an oil and gas production platform, and associated pipelines in South Marsh Island Block 232 in 16 ft of water off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Decks for both platforms are designed to be installed on free-standing caissons. The structures are being fabricated in Gulf Island Fabricator's Houma, La., yard. Installation of platforms and pipelines is set for autumn.

GLOBAL MARINE INC., Houston, traded 100% ownership in its Glomar Moray Firth jack up rig and $17 million cash for 100% ownership in three jack up rigs owned by Transocean Drilling AS, Tananger, Norway. Global Marine acquired the Transocean 5, 6, and 7 jack ups, top drive Marathon LeTourneau 116-C cantilever units that can work in 300 ft of water. Two are under contract in the Gulf of Mexico, the third in the Persian Gulf. The Glomar Moray Firth is being outfitted with more equipment before mobilizing to Denmark on a one well contract.

A TEXAS APPEALS COURT ruled Aug. 25 the Texas Railroad Commission can legally keep East Texas oil field production rates below those of other fields in the state. In 1972, TRC limited production from East Texas field to 86% of market demand vs. 100% for most other Texas fields. A suit brought by ARCO, Mobil, Oxy, and other large oil companies alleged the production limit was discriminatory, and an Austin district court judge agreed. But the Third Court of Appeals in Austin reversed that decision, reaffirming TRC's ability to impose limits.

BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO LTD. will begin building the 81,000 metric ton concrete gravity base for North Sea Forth platform this month at Hunterston dry dock, Ayrshire, Scotland (OGJ, Apr. 12, p.31). Tow-out to U.K. Block 9/23b is scheduled for June 1995. After the T shape base is positioned, a steel jack up production platform will be lowered on top for mating. The 110 ft high base will stand in 360 ft of water.

DEEP OIL TECHNOLOGY INC. (DOT), Irvine, Calif., agreed to begin using titanium risers and stress joint components from RMI Titanium Co., Niles, Ohio. on all DOT designed spar deepwater floating production systems (FPSs). Titanium riser joints on the sea floor and on the vessel's keel allow spar platforms to simultaneously drill and produce in deep water. A spar FPS is being offered as a deepwater drilling and development option by a group that includes DOT, Rauma Offshore Contracting Co., Rauma, Finland, and McDermott Marine Construction and Reading & Bates Development Co., both of Houston (OGJ, Dec. 7, 1992, p. 18).

TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC let contract to Stolt Comex Seaway Ltd., Aberdeen, to tie in U.K. North Sea Block 3 Dunbar and Ellon fields to North Alwyn field. Pipeline construction will start immediately, with offshore work scheduled during June-August 1994. Dunbar will be developed using a satellite platform and Ellon a subsea wellhead completion, with production from both processed on the North Alwyn platform (OGJ, Oct. 26, 1992, p. 37).

PARTNERS Amoco Orient Petroleum Co. and China Offshore Oil Nanhai East Corp. in Liuhua 11-1 field off China let a $19.3 million project services contract to the Brown & Root Marine unit of Brown & Root Inc., Houston. BRM is to design Liuhua 11-1 complex's safety, control, and communication systems, help monitor costs, scheduling, and procurement, coordinate subprojects, prepare tender documents for facilities installations, and help with permit applications, surveying, and soil boring.

CHEVRON U.K. LTD. took delivery of a 2.7 km pipeline bundle for its U.K. Block 16/26 Alba field development project. Rockwater Ltd., Aberdeen, assembled the bundle and towed it 130 miles to the field for installation this month using remotely operated vehicles. The bundle contract was pegged at 27 million ($10.5 million).

CABOT OIL & GAS CORP., Houston, agreed to buy oil and gas leases and related assets in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, including 87 bcf of gas equivalent reserves and 300 wells producing 13 MMcfd, much of which qualifies for federal tax credits. Gas makes up 99% of the reserves. Several leases are mixed among Cabot oil and gas acreage, while those in northern West Virginia expand Cabot's Appalachian operating area.

PIPELINES

TRANSCO ENERGY CO., Houston, will buy the interests of Corpus Christi Gas Gathering Inc. in jointly owned gas gathering and intrastate pipeline assets and end the existing business relationship. Transco will then lease some of the assets back to Corpus Christi Gas. All payments under the final agreement will total $50 million before taxes, Transco estimates. Upon the agreement's being signed, both parties will drop lawsuits against each other.

THREE HEATED PIPELINES, not three unheated pipelines as incorrectly reported (OGJ, Aug. 23, p. 17), were held out for further review in a 1975 lawsuit by California and the city of Long Beach alleging price fixing by seven oil companies. A recent court ruling, under appeal by Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc., would convert two of the heated lines to common carriers.

PANHANDLE EASTERN PIPELINE CO. (PEPL), Houston, agreed to provide Dayton Power & Light Co. (DP&L) 75 MMcfd of firm gas transportation and storage capacity in a 10 year deal beginning Apr. 1, 1994. To service the agreement, PEPL plans to lay 51 miles of 16 and 6 in. pipeline from PEPL facilities at Hollansburg in Darke County, Ohio, with delivery taps at three locations and a connection in Shelby County near Hardin, Ohio, with DP&L's gas distribution system. The expansion is to be in service by Nov. 1, 1994.

EXPORTS-IMPORTS

CONOCO INC. agreed to sell 5 bcf of gas by September 1994 from wells in South Texas to Pemex Gas y Petroquimica Basica (PGPB), a unit of Mexico's Petroleos Mexicanos. to fuel industries in North Central Mexico. Gas will enter Mexico via a Valero Natural Gas Partners LP pipeline crossing the U.S.Mexican border at Penitas, Mexico. Amoco Energy Trading Corp. last month announced it is selling PGPB 35 MMcfd of gas through September 1994 (OGJ, Aug. 30, p. 36).