COMPANIES

MAPLE LEAF ENERGY INC., Vancouver, B.C., committed $7 million (Canadian) to Strike Energy Inc. to use for lease acquisition, exploration, and development in return for undisclosed guarantees. Strike will retain at least a 75% interest in the leases at the end of 3 years. Meanwhile, Strike acquired Sabre West Oil & Gas Ltd. for $4 million. Sabre's main assets are in Luseland and Success oil fields of southern Saskatchewan.

OSAKA GAS CO. LTD. issued Eurobonds to raise $250 million. Financial Times, London, said proceeds will be exchanged for yen and used to help finance new LNG terminals and pipelines. Details aren't disclosed.

MOBIL NORTH SEA LTD. will move 40 employees to Aberdeen, Scotland, from its London office by yearend. Mobil's technical and new developments department in London will be absorbed into Aberdeen's production department in a bid to cut costs and improve efficiency.

GAELIC RESOURCES PLC, Dublin, won shareholder approval to take over lnteroil Ltd., London. lnteroil's main asset is the right to develop Vis-breaker, a patented process designed to reduce oil viscosity at the wellhead, making transportation to refineries less costly. Gaelic said bringing the process to commercial stage will would take 3 years and cost $2.5 million. It intends to seek joint venture finance.

REFINING

CHEVRON U.S.A. PRODUCTS CO. agreed to operate on long term basis the 55,000 b/cd capacity El Paso refinery formerly held by El Paso Refinery LP. The plant has been shut down since El Paso Refinery filed for federal bankruptcy protection last year. Chevron will soon integrate operations there with its nearby 65,000 b/cd capacity refinery.

VENTECH ENGINEERS INC., Pasadena, Tex., is building a 630 b/d naphtha hydrotreater and catalytic reformer for Siberian oil production association Uraineftegas, Urai, Russia. Ventech calls it the first modular plant of its kind in Russia. The Tyumen province plant will produce A-93 and A-76 unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. The crude topping unit is to be in operation in October, and the hydrotreater/reformer is to start up in June 1994.

TEXACO REFINING & MARKETING INC. said its proprietary low aromatics diesel fuel technology, which includes two diesel fuel formulations, is available for license from Texaco Development Corp. The technology meets emission reduction requirements of the California Air Resources Board's low aromatic diesel fuel regulation.

AS DANSK SHELL let contract to ABB Lummus Crest Inc., Bloomfield, N.J., for basic design and engineering of an upgrade project at its Fredericia, Denmark, refinery. The project includes a new gas oil hydrodesulfurization unit and sulfur handling units. It will enable Shell to produce low sulfur diesel fuel and reduce refinery emissions.

SHELL NEDERLAND RAFFINADERIJ BV let contract to ABB Lummus Crest for engineering of the hydrocracker in a $1 .7 billion renovation of its Pernis refinery near Rotterdam (OGJ, Apr. 26, p. 64). Construction is planned to begin in spring 1994, with the entire upgrade taking several years to complete. The hydrocracker will crack heavy hydrocarbons to produce low sulfur diesel and low sulfur gas oil.

GAS STORAGE

TEJAS POWER CORP., Houston, expects this year to begin construction of two more gas market hubs through development of salt dome storage sites in Louisiana and Mississippi. Like the company's Moss Bluff gas storage site near Houston, the LA-1 and MS-1 facilities will be near several interstate and intrastate pipelines. Construction will start after contracts for storage services are signed.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

PARKER & PARSLEY CO., Midland. Tex., offered $557 million for 35 Prudential-Bache Energy Income limited partnerships that are the subject of investor lawsuits. A total of $448.3 million of the offer is to go to more than 120,000 investors who bought interests in the partnerships. Most of the production is in Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Closing is expected in August.

ENTERRA CORP. unit Enterra Oil Field Rental acquired the fishing tool inventory of Argentina's Yacimientos Petroleos Fiscales. Enterra will locate service points throughout Argentina to meet expanding needs of the country's oil and gas industry.

TENGIZCHEVROIL let an exclusive 2 year contract to Enterra Oilfield Services Ltd., Dubai, U.A.E., for rental tools and services to support Chevron's exploration and production program in the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan. Enterra will provide downhole tools, fishing tools and services, and a machine shop support facility.

ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, signed a definitive agreement to purchase deep oil and gas production and additional leases in the Hugoton area of Southwest Kansas from an undisclosed operator for $20 million. The trade includes proved reserves estimated by Anadarko at 3.7 million bbl of oil equivalent, 24,000 acres with as many as 30 development drillsites, and overrides under another 188,000 acres in an existing farmout with another company.

AS NORSKE SHELL will charter for 100 million kroner ($15 million) Ross Offshore AS's Ross semisubmersible rig to drill in the Barents Sea. Drilling will begin this fall and last 6 months. Shell has an option to drill another well. Ross Offshore's rig utilization rate this year is 66%, compared with 33% at this time last year.

GLOBAL MARINE INC., Houston, will move its Glomar Baltic I cantilever jack up rig to the Gulf of Mexico from the North Sea under a one well contract expected to last at least 100 days. The rig is to arrive within 60 days, replacing a unit scheduled to leave the gulf and work off Trinidad.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. U.K. LTD. 49/6a-A1 Ann field development well, its first horizontal well in the U.K. North Sea, flowed 130 MMcfd of gas through a 104/64 in. choke. Drilling is suspended to allow the Rowan Gorilla 11 jack up to drill the second horizontal well in the field, with work expected to be finished by July 1. Operator Phillips holds a 42.22% interest in the field, Fina Exploration Ltd. 42.78%, and Agip (U.K.) Ltd. 15%.

CHEVRON PRODUCTION CO. let contract to Parker Drilling Co., Tulsa, for a helicopter transportable rig to drill a wildcat on U.S. Forest Service limited access acreage in Lincoln County, Wyo. Work on Chevron's Federal 1-27 Hunter Creek Prospect is to start July 30.

ADVANCED RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL INC., Arlington, Va., provided the photograph used on the cover of the May 10 Oil & Gas Journal. A sourceline was omitted by mistake.

NUGAS LTD., Calgary, started an 83 well workover program designed to add about 7 bcf of net gas reserves in the Brooks area of Southeast Alberta. NuGas holds a 100% interest in the project, which currently produces 6 MMcfd. Incremental flow from the program is expected to amount to 2.6 MMcfd beginning July 1. Earlier this month, NuGas started a 49 well gas development program in the Wintering Hills area of Southeast Alberta where production is expected to start July 1 at 2.5 MMcfd net to the company, which holds a 75% interest.

TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC let a 3 million ($4.5 million) contract to Pirelli Cables Ltd., Eastleigh, U.K., for 28 miles of 20 kv composite power and optical fiber cable. The cable will link the North Sea's Dunbar and North Alwyn fields (OGJ, Jan. 25, p. 44).

FORTIES FIELD REDEVELOPMENT cost in the U.K. North Sea is $450 million. That figure was incorrectly reported as Forties field redevelopment cost overruns resulting from increasing operating costs and reduced product prices (OGJ, May 10, P. 19).

AMERADA HESS LTD. let contracts to the Rockwater unit of Brown & Root Marine Inc., Houston, for development of Hudson field in 433 ft of water in the U.K. North Sea. Rockwater is to oversee design and fabrication of the field's 270 ton subsea manifold by Brown & Root Engineering, Aberdeen, Scotland. Design work, which is under way, is to be complete by September with fabrication complete in April 1994. Rockwater's MSV Regalia multipurpose support vessel will use its 400 ton capacity crane to install the manifold by July 1994.

MITCHELL ENERGY & DEVELOPMENT CORP., The Woodlands, Tex., paid a combined $16.1 million in four transactions for interests in 346 producing wells and 9,600 gross acres in Texas and New Mexico. In the largest deal, Mitchell paid $7 million to Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc. for 46-100% interests in 13 wells and 4,600 acres in Lassater field, Marion County, Tex., a 62% interest in the Lassater central separation and storage facility, and a 100% interest in the field gas gathering system.

GULF RUSSIA, a unit of Gulf Interstate Oil Co., Dubai, U.A.E., received an oil concession in the Stavropol area of southern Russia. The concession holds more than 300 million bbl of reserves in six producing fields, Gulf said. Work is to start this month on field development that's expected to cost $5 million the first 6 months.

EXPLORATION

CRIMEAN PETROLEUM CO., Simferopol, Crimea, won the right to explore and develop oil and gas in the Crimean and Ukrainian Black Sea area, specifically in the 4,000 sq km Delfin section. Crimean Petroleum is a joint venture of JPK Exploration & Production Ltd., London, and Chernomorneftagas SPE. Chernomorneftagas is the Ukrainian offshore oil and gas exploration and production organization. Crimean Petroleum is the first operation of its kind in this part of the Black Sea, JPK said.

CHINA awarded two areas to ARCO for exploration off Hainan Island's Sanya City in the South China Sea. The agreements cover a combined 6,640 sq miles in Contract Areas 52/12 and 63/28 in the Qingdongnan basin. The deal stems from a $1.2 billion contract awarded to ARCO last year to build offshore platforms, lay a 1,500 mile pipeline, and build the rest of the infrastructure to deliver offshore Yacheng field gas, mainly to Hong Kong for electric power generation.

AMOCO PAKISTAN EXPLORATION CO. notified Pakistan's Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources it will withdraw from the country. Amoco earlier invoked the force majeure clause of its license agreement for its Sibi block in Baluchistan province because of continuing civil strife in the region. Occidental Petroleum Corp., a gas producer in Pakistan since the early 1980s, started reducing its exposure there and may pull out soon.

AUSTRIA'S OMV AG unit OMV (Yemen) Exploration GmbH took a farmout on Block 1OB-Sarr in the Masila area of eastern Yemen. OMV holds a 50% interest in the production sharing agreement, operator Clyde Petroleum plc, Ledbury, U.K., 9%, and local company Ansan Wifks (Hadramaut) Ltd. 41%. OMV has an option to take over operatorship.

REPSOL SA, Madrid, found oil with two wells on its Issouane permit in Southeast Algeria's Illizi basin, 370 miles south of Hassi Messaoud oil field. Middle East Economic Survey reported that 1 Tifernine and 1 Tin Mesnaguene cut Devonian oil reservoirs at about 5,000 ft. Tests are under way.

LNG

ABU DHABI GAS LIQUEFACTION CO. LTD. (Adgas) started up two sulfur recovery units at its Das Island LNG plant 100 miles northeast of Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., following expansions and refurbishment by Ralph M. Parsons Co. Ltd. Parsons expanded capacity of each sulfur unit to 550 metric tons/day from 460 tons/day. A third sulfur unit of similar capacity, part of a new LNG train at the Adgas plant, is to be complete in early 1994.

MARKETING

PHILLIPS 66 CO. is marketing an enhanced line of natural gas engine oils under the trade name Eclipse. Oils in the line are distinguished by the letters T (two cycle), F (four cycle), and W (Waukesha). Eclipse T and F offer enhanced performance characteristics from improved additive packages.

PETROCHEMICALS

MALAYSIA'S Petronas, British Petroleum Chemicals Co., and Idemitsu Petrochemicals Co. agreed to build and develop Malaysia's first petrochemical complex. It will consist of a 320,000 metric ton/year ethylene plant and 200,000 ton/year polyethylene plant at Kertih, in Northeast Trengganu state. A $333 million contract for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the ethylene plant was let to a combine of Toyo Engineering Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., ABB Lummus Crest, and Equator Engineering Sdn. Bhd. A $150 million EPC contract went to Technip, Paris, for the polyethylene plant. Start-up is set for mid-1995.

PIPELINES

EXXON CO. INTERNATIONAL hired Gulf Interstate Engineering Co., Houston, for preliminary engineering services for the Chad-Cameroon pipeline system in central western Africa. Gulf's contract is part of a feasibility study for a 1 000 km crude oil pipeline from near Doba, Chad. to an export terminal on the coast of Cameroon.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.

INDUSTRY BRIEFS

In order to access this content, you must be logged-in and have an active subscription to the OGJ Premium Archive