INDUSTRY BRIEFS

MARKETING

SHELL OIL CO. plans to replace gasoline sold at its 8,700 U.S. retail outlets with three grades of a new unleaded version containing a detergent additive package said to reduce by as much as 90% the harmful deposits on engine intake valves. The new fuels combine two detergent additive systems.

SHELL acquired 51 service stations and convenience stores in Florida from SuperAmerica Inc., a unit of Ashland Oil Inc. That increases to about 700 the number of Shell branded jobber and dealer retail outlets in the state. Shell immediately will replace SuperAmerica logos with its own trademark.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. is evaluating development options for the Garden Banks area, 130 miles off New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. Its 2 Garden Banks in 750 ft of water on Block 71 cut 348 ft of net gas pay in one zone at 7,800 ft. Drilling continues to an undisclosed deeper target. In 1 990 it suspended drilling at 1 Garden Banks on Block 70 after cutting 26 ft of net gas pay at 10,900 ft. A second well on Block 70 is planned next month. Phillips holds 100% working interests in Blocks 70 and 71.

TENGIZCHEVROIL, a joint venture of Chevron Overseas Co. and Kazakhstan's Tengizneftegaz, chose Parker Drilling Co., Tulsa, to help develop Tengiz oil field, Parker will supply rig management, supervisory training services, and labor. The field is in western Kazakhstan along the Caspian Sea's northeast coast.

KERR-MCGEE (U.K.) LTD. let contract to Stolt Comex Seaway Ltd., Aberdeen, Scotland, to install flow lines, risers, umbilicals, and related equipment in Gryphon field of the North Sea, Lines will connect wellheads to the Tentech 850 floating production vessel (OGJ, Dec. 14, 1992, p. 26). Work will be done in June and September.

AMERADA HESS LTD. let contract to Stena Offshore Ltd., Aberdeen, to design, fabricate, and install underwater flow lines in Hudson field on North Sea Block 210/24a. Stena will lay lines from Hudson wells to a subsea manifold and from the manifold to Tern platform, in 500 ft of water (OGJ, Dec. 14, 1992, p. 26). Production lines will be insulated to prevent wax deposition. Installation is scheduled for April 1994.

BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO. LTD. loaded the deck, jacket, and piles onto delivery vessels to prepare for their installation in Hyde field on North Sea Block 48/06. The 750 metric ton deck, 1,040 metric ton jacket, and eight 52 metric ton piles were built by UIE Scotland Ltd., Clydebank. Hyde reserves are 135 bcf of gas. Commissioning is due to start in early September, with peak production estimated at 85 MMcfd.

MEXICO'S Petroleos Mexicanos ordered three super-computers from Convex Computer Corp., Richardson, Tex., to run exploration and production software. Pemex E&P personnel are to use compact, portable Convex C3410/ES systems based at Ciudad del Carmen and Villahermosa to run seismic processing applications at exploration sites. About 200 Pemex scientists and engineers, including users on Pemex offshore platforms, are to use a four processor Convex C3440 at Ciudad del Carmen for reservoir modeling and data base applications.

PETROCHEMICALS

CHINA let an 8 billion yen ($71.2 million) contract to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Tokyo, for a 100,000 metric ton/year polyethylene plant and 10,000 ton/year butene-1 separation unit to be built in Jilin, Jilin province. The plant is to be operated by Jilin Chemical Industrial Corp. and use Union Carbide Corp.'s Unipol polyethylene technology. Nippon Petrochemicals Co. Ltd.'s process will separate butene-1 from the C4 fraction from ethylene cracking.

GEORGIA GULF CORP., Atlanta, let contract to John Brown Engineers & Constructors Ltd., Houston, for process design and basic and detailed engineering needed to issue a lump sum bid package for construction of a 476,190 bbl/year expansion of Georgia Gulf's methanol plant at Plaquemine, La. Construction is to begin in third quarter with project completion expected by mid-1994.

COMPANIES

ALBERTA ENERGY LTD., Calgary, plans to increase capital spending this year to $220 million (Canadian) from $190 million. It will spend another $40 million to expand natural gas storage facilities at Medicine Hat, Alta. The company also is considering plans for an 845 mile crude oil pipeline from the Edmonton area to Cheyenne, Wyo., with a start-up capacity of 175,000 b/d.

DRESSER INDUSTRIES INC., Dallas, and Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, agreed to pay $57.5 million each to Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co., Midland, Tex., to settle a 1990 lawsuit. The suit stemmed from claims alleging shortages of materials supplied by Dresser, Baker Hughes, and affiliates for well stimulation services. Payment is to be made by May 23 and is subject to board approval by Dresser and Baker Hughes.

SAFETY

THE ABERDEEN Sheriff's Office said pilot error caused a helicopter crash on North Sea Cormorant Alpha platform in March 1992. Ten workmen and the copilot died in the crash, which occurred shortly after takeoff in bad weather. The pilot and six others survived. Shell U.K. Exploration & Production, Cormorant field operator, was criticized for not having a standby vessel on hand at takeoff.

HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE, London, published 26 reports on blast and fire engineering for topsides structures. The reports, which review current technology and areas of risk, are written for engineers engaged in tasks such as formal safety assessment preparation for offshore installations.

PIPELINES

CANADA'S National Energy Board will begin a hearing June 21 in Toronto on an application by TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, for a $637.3 million (Canadian) gas pipeline expansion. The program in 1994-95 is to include 180 miles of new line, 178 million kw of added compressor capacity, two aftercoolers, and a compressor unit upgrade. New facilities in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario are to serve Canadian and export gas markets, adding 165 MMcfd to long distance capacity and 211 MMcfd for short haul deliveries.

STINGRAY GAS PIPELINE CO., a 50-50 partnership of Leviathan Gas Pipeline Partners LP, Houston, and Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America, Chicago, agreed in principle to extend its Gulf of Mexico system to move gas from a production platform on Garden Banks Block 191 proposed by Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. and Union Oil Co. of California. Subject to signing of definitive contracts, Stingray is to install 12 miles of 16 in. line capable of receiving as much as 130 MMcfd of gas. The extension is to be in service before Feb. 1, 1994.

FOUR CORNERS PIPE LINE CO., Long Beach, expects by Apr. 30 to complete cleanup of a 6,200 bbl oil spill from Line 63 near Lebec in Kern County, Calif. The Apr. 6 spill temporarily blocked north-bound lanes of Interstate 5. A leak in the 16 in., 70,000 b/d pipeline apparently was caused by a radial weld crack. The line was repaired and returned to service within 54 hr. Cleanup cost is estimated at $3 million.

REFINING

U.S. IMPORT EXPORT BANK agreed to guarantee a $166.2 million loan to support a $188 million sale of a delayed coker, isomerization plant, and platformer unit for Petroleos de Venezuela SA. Pdvsa will use the equipment to expand its Cardon refinery on the Paraguana Peninsula of western Venezuela.

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. plans to shut down its loco refinery at Port Moody, B.C., by mid-1994. The company said the refinery, with 44,000 b/d capacity of gasoline and lubricants, cannot meet new formulation requirements for gasoline. Imperial will take a $54 million (Canadian) writedown on the operation and lay off 165 workers. Products for the West Coast market will be produced at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton and be shipped to British Columbia via the Trans-Mountain pipeline system.

SHELL CIA. ARGENTINA DE PETROLEO SA let a $15.7 million turnkey contract to Foxboro Co., Foxboro, Mass., for the second phase of the control room and field instrumentation modernization project at its 120,000 b/d Buenos Aires refinery. The contract includes three I/A Series system control nodes to manage crude unit, hydrotreater, Platforming, and FCC plants, plus intelligent transmitters and interfaces to programmed logic controllers and the plant information system.

PETROCHEMICAL DESIGN INSTITUTE, Beijing, sold the patent it holds on a refinery heat recovery unit to undisclosed buyers in Singapore and South Korea. The sale marks the first time China has exported refining technology. The patented equipment attaches to catalytic cracking units, converting heat into usable vapor.

GAS PROCESSING

BECHTEL INTERNATIONAL INC., Paris, let an $8 million contract to Foxboro to upgrade pneumatic controls at L'Enterprise Nationale Sonatrach's Arzew, Algeria, LNG plant to a plant-wide I/A Series system. Seven control nodes will manage all six LNG trains and utilities. Foxboro will perform control application engineering, graphics building, and data base configuration to Bechtel's design package, and supervise installation, boiler start-up, and training.

AMOCO PRODUCTION CO. began moving gas from Mabee field in Andrews County, Tex., through a 7 mile, 8 in. polyethylene pipeline extension, eliminating a less efficient collection and processing system and adding about 2 MMcfd of gas to volumes shipped to its Midland Farms gas processing plant. The new, larger pipeline moves gas without field compression, eliminating the need to use gas to power compressors, reducing back pressure on producing wells, and improving oil and gas flow rates,

GOVERNMENT

U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE reissued a list of major oil companies and their subsidiaries that may not combine with others on the list to bid for offshore oil and gas leases. The companies are BP, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil, and Shell.

U.K. TREASURY said operators have no legal requirement to honor drilling commitments agreed with Department of Trade & Industry. Operators approached government with concerns about recent tax reforms, saying loss of exploration and appraisal allowances was unfair (OGJ, Mar. 29, p. 33).

ALTERNATE FUELS

PHILIPPINES NATIONAL OIL CO. chose Magma Power Co., San Diego, to build and operate a 70 million kw geothermal power plant on Leyte Island. Under a proposed 15 year contract, the power generating plant will distribute electricity via underwater cable to Cebu Island. The plant is expected to be in operation by mid-1996, Magma recently bought some of Unocal Corp.'s geothermal assets (OGJ, Apr. 12, p. 34).

TRANSPORTATION

ALLSEAS ENGINEERING BY, Delft, Netherlands, let two contracts worth a combined $17 million to add components to its Solitaire dynamic positioning pipelay vessel under construction. Wartsila Diesel Oy, Turku, Finland, will build eight 6R46, 5.85 kw engines for delivery in October. Lips Thrusters Drunen BY, Drunen, Holland, will build eight FS 3500-671/NU underwater dismountable steerable thrusters with 3.75 mm fixed pitch propellers. Testing of the thrusters will take place by mid-May 1994. Solitaire is to begin operation by late 1994.

EXPLORATION

TOTAL'S 1 Lereng wildcat flowed 32.3 MMcfd of gas and 524 b/d of condensate from pay at 4,100 m on the Mahakam block off East Kalimantan, Indonesia, The well is 15 km north of Northwest Peciko field and 10 km southwest of Tunu field (see map, OGJ, Aug. 10, 1992, p. 68). Other gas fields on Mahakam block include Tambora, Sisi, Peciko, and most recently, Nubi. Total is block operator in partnership with Japan's Inpex.

SCHLUMBERGER OILFIELD SERVICES GROUP unit GECO-Prakla, Stavanger, Norway, took delivery of two Norwegian-built 3D seismic survey vessels. Topaz and Diamond are the third and fourth of four GEM class vessels built at a cost of more than $140 million. Topaz immediately began work for Total Norge AS, while Diamond began a charter for Norsk Hydro AS, both at undisclosed locations.

BEAU CANADA EXPLORATION LTD., Calgary, will spend $2.4 million (Canadian) on a farmout of Alberta exploration acreage held by Durum Energy Corp., Vancouver, B.C. Beau Canada will drill three horizontal wells to earn 70% of Durum's 45% interest in 13,440 acres in the Haig River area. Beau Canada has an option to drill three more wells to earn a 70% interest in the balance of 39,120 acres.

AUSTRALIAN onshore drilling is in decline, Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd., Edinburgh, reported. Sixty-four wells will be drilled this year, down about 18% from last year. The trend will continue, with 50 wells predicted for 1995.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.