INDUSTRY BRIEFS

EXPLORATION

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP. unit Occidental Gabon (Meboun) Inc. acquired exploration rights to the 3.3 million acre Meboun Marin block, 50 miles off Gabon. Under the Meboun Marin production sharing agreement, operator Oxy will conduct a 4,000 km seismic program and drill two wells at first. It may carry out more seismic and drilling to evaluate potential. The block is just south of the 1 million acre Chaillu block in which Oxy acquired a 50% interest in May from British Gas plc.

INTERNATIONAL EGYPTIAN OIL CO. (IEOC), a unit of Italy's Agip SpA, and Amoco Corp.'s Amoco Egypt Oil Co. found gas and condensate in 144 ft of water on the Baltim concession, 120 miles north of Cairo in the Mediterranean Sea. Their discovery well flowed 31.6 MMcfd of gas and 586 b/d of condensate through a 1/4 in. choke with 2,706 psi flowing wellhead pressure from Messinian Abu Madi pay sands above 12,835 ft measured depth. Operator IEOC and Amoco Egypt each own a 50% interest in the well.

ALASKA asked for comments on its proposed Shelikof Strait exempt oil and gas lease Sale 85A, currently scheduled for July 1995 in Anchorage. The sale, which replaces canceled Icy Cape Sale 82 on the state's sale schedule, involves about 1 million acres of state lands in Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait. Deadline is Dec. 31. Alaska also expects to issue a final decision by Oct. 19 on proposed Cook Inlet Sale 78, scheduled for Jan. 25, 1994, in Anchorage. Sale 78 involves 140 tracts covering 610,440 acres in the Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula areas.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

AMERADA HESS LTD. started production from North Sea Hudson field July 19 with 20,000 b/d of oil from the first well. A second well started up 24 hr later, increasing field production to 38,000 b/d. First phase flow from the field in U.K. Block 210/24a field is through the Petrojarl 1 production vessel. Beginning in November 1994, production will be through six subsea wells tied back to the Tern field platform, 7 miles east. Tern is operated by Shell U.K. Exploration & Production (OGJ, Dec. 14, 1992, p. 26).

ENTERPRISE OIL PLC, London, farmed out a 20% interest in U.K. Block 16/6a to Bow Valley Petroleum (U.K.) Ltd. Terms call for Bow Valley to drill the 1 6/6a-4 well this year to appraise the Sedgwick discovery. An extended test of the well next year will enable license partners Enterprise, the operator, 40%, BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. 20%, Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. 20%, and Bow Valley to make a development decision.

CNG TRANSMISSION CORP., Clarksburg, W.Va., offered for sale all its facilities in producing blocks in the Gulf of Mexico and South Louisiana. It will sell interest in 19 jointly owned and one wholly owned offshore pipeline laterals, as well as two 100% owned onshore pipelines. CNG is the interstate gas transmission unit of Consolidated Natural Gas Co., Pittsburgh.

NORSK HYDRO NAMIBIA AS let a $2 million contract to Lamnalco Namibia (Pty.) Ltd. to drill a wildcat on Block 1911 off Namibia. The well, to be spudded early in October in 1,500 ft of water, is to be drilled to 15,000 ft. Lamnalco, based in the United Arab Emirates, will work out of Walvis Bay, South Africa. Operator Hydro's license partners are Saga Petroleum Namibia AS 30% and Statoil Namibia AS 30% (OGJ, July 12, p. 23).

TENNECO VENTURES, a unit of Tenneco Gas, Houston, acquired an 11.85% interest in Mobile Block 864 field unit in the Gulf of Mexico, about 18 miles southeast of Pascagoula, Miss., from BG Exploration America Inc. The deal includes undisclosed interests in Mobile Blocks 863, 907, and 908. Block 864 field, which went on stream in March 1992, produces about 60 MMcfd of gas.

CHAUVCO RESOURCES LTD., Calgary, will spend $15-20 million (U.S.) the next 2-3 years developing oil and gas leases in Argentina. Spending includes the recent purchase of a 28,416 acre block from state company Yacimientos Petroleos Fiscales, Chauvco expects to reach gas production of 20 MMcfd within 1 year.

TRITON ENERGY CORP., Dallas, received a preliminary commitment from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to guarantee certain financing for the company's 12% working interest in initial development of its Cusiana-Cupiagua field project in Colombia. The guarantee covers financing of as much as $33 million for equipment, pipelines, and other facilities made in the U.S. for export to the field site. In the first phase of development, production from Cusiana field is expected to be as much as 150.000 b/d of oil by late 1995.

STE. NATIONAL ELF AQUITAINE let contract to Ross Offshore AS, Oslo, to drill two wells off Congo. The Pelerin rig is due to spud the first well in September. The fixed part of the contract covers 8 months, after which Elf has an option to drill two more wells.

BRITISH GAS PLC completed installation of the North Morecambe field platform on Irish Sea Block 110/2a. The 2,300 metric ton, integrated deck was lifted onto the jacket by the DB102 crane vessel. The platform and a 36 in. pipeline will send first gas ashore in October 1994 to a terminal being built at Barrow, U.K. North Morecambe reserves are estimated at 1.4 tcf of gas, with peak production forecast at 300 MMcfd.

RECYCLING

TEXACO INC. division Texaco Fuel & Marine Marketing broke ground Aug. 3 in Jefferson Parish, La., for the company's first used oil recycling plant. The $7.2 million, 3,500 b/d capacity unit is on the Marrero marketing terminal by the Mississippi River. It will process used motor oil and lubricants into distillate fuel.

GOVERNMENT

U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE scheduled a western Gulf of Mexico lease sale Sept. 15 in New Orleans. It will offer 4,682 blocks totaling 25.7 million acres in 8-3,000 m of water off Texas and Louisiana. The tracts will carry a $5/acre delay rental rather than the $3/acre MMS has charged for more than 20 years.

U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT issued a final rule extending the primary term of all new competitive federal onshore oil and gas leases to 1 0 years from 5 years. The rule, published in the July 30 Federal Register, was required by the 1992 Energy Policy Act.

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY proposed fines for 27 U.S. chemical manufacturers and importers that failed to report on commercial chemicals that pose potential health and environmental risks. Included are Murphy Oil Co., Meraux La., a $765,000 fine; Oryx Energy Co., Dallas, $474,000; Little America Refining Co., Casper, Wyo., $264,000; Murphy Oil, Superior, Wis., $246,000; Montana Refining Co., Great Falls, Mont., $144,000; and Fina Oil & Chemical Co., Linn, Tex., $12,000.

PIPELINES

TRANSCONTINENTAL GAS PIPE LINE CORP. unit of Transco Energy Co., Houston, proposal to create Blue Ridge Pipeline Co. was rejected by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It involved laying a 30 in. pipeline in Alabama and North Carolina and building a 12,000 hp compressor in Georgia to be integrated into Transco's system and owned by Blue Ridge. FERC rejected the plan to create the additional firm transportation capacity of 150 MMcfd on Transco's main line.

TRUNKLINE GAS GO. won FERC approval to proceed with the $86 million sale of its 114 mile Lebanon lateral to Texas Eastern Transmission Corp. The lateral does not connect directly with Trunkline's main system. It runs from links with Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. in Grant County, Ind., to hookups with Texas Eastern, CNG Transmission Corp., and Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. near Lebanon, Ohio. Trunkline's plans to build a direct connection fell victim to market forces and changing regulations, the FERC order said.

NORTHWEST PIPELINE CORP. unit of Williams Cos., Tulsa, asked FERC to authorize a 99 MMcfd expansion of its main line gas system from Stanfield, Ore., to Portland, Ore., and along the Grants Pass lateral to serve Northwest Natural Gas Co. The proposed $45 million project includes laying 25 miles of pipeline in Oregon and Washington, adding 5,700 hp of compression in Washington, and building one meter station and modifying six others. Environmental work got under way early this year. Construction is to begin in fourth quarter 1994 and be complete in 1 year.

IROQUOIS GAS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, Shelton, Conn., started construction at Wright, N.Y., on the first compressor station along its 375 mile, $695 million system commissioned in January 1992. The station will begin operation in November to maintain service to Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. in New York and to Dartmouth Power Co.'s 68,000 kw cogeneration plant in Massachusetts. Start-up of the station will increase gas shipped under long term firm contract to 641.1 MMcfd from 581.1 MMcfd.

COMPANIES

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM agreed to sell 20% of the stock in Occidental Exploration of Argentina Inc. for $24 million to Argentine company Astra Cia. Argentina de Petroleo SA. In addition, Astra agreed to pay Oxy $10 million for an option, exercisable in July 1994, to acquire the remaining 80%.

BLACKLAND OIL PLC, London, launched a 227 million ($40 million) takeover bid for Kingsleigh Petroleum Ltd., Singapore. Kingsleigh imports crude oil and products into China, and is involved in a joint venture to build and operate a single point mooring unit off China's Zhanjiang port. This will expand crude import capacity for the Maoming Petrochemical Corp. refinery at Maoming.

CONOCO INC. will lay off 86 employees in Houston and 26 in Ponca City, Okla., in its latest step in a restructuring that began 18 months ago. The cuts do not focus on any particular operation. A spokesman said the restructuring remains in progress, and all jobs remain under review.

TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC completed its headquarters move to Aberdeen from London July 26. A small office will be maintained in London to handle projects, tay and gas trading, and act as base for Chairman Philip Jones.

ALTERNATE FUELS

PHILIPPINES national company Energy Development Corp. let contract to California Energy Co. Inc., Omaha, and partners to build, own, and operate two geothermal plants with a combined capacity of 300,000 kw at a combined construction cost of more than $350 million. One unit will be a 180,000 kw plant in Mahanagdong geothermal field, the other a 120,000 kw plant in Upper Mahiao geothermal field. CECI and Kiewit Diversified Group Inc. will share development costs and equity funding equally at the larger plant, scheduled for completion in June 1997. At the smaller plant, CECI partner Ormat Inc. will be turnkey contractor and CECI the operator. It's scheduled for completion in July 1996.

REFINING

MOBIL CORP. completed a $150 million upgrade at its 180,000 b/d Joliet, III., refinery. The project enables the plant to produce low sulfur diesel fuel and process more lower cost heavy crude. The improvements also will help reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.

PILIPINAS SHELL PETROLEUM CORP., Manila, let contract to Parsons Corp. unit Parsons International Ltd. for engineering, procurement, and construction management services at its Tabangao refinery at Batangas, Philippines. Parsons will revamp the hydrocarbon solvents plant, allowing Shell to process new feedstocks of naphtha and kerosine. The revamp is scheduled for completion in October 1994.

SKANDINAVISKA RAFFINADERI AB, Lysekil, Sweden, will use technology from M.W. Kellogg Co., Houston, and Mobil Oil Corp. to upgrade the 28,000 b/cd FCCU at its 200,000 b/cd Lysekil refinery. Work will include installation of a new feed nozzle system, closed cyclones, and two stage stripper. The revamp will maximize feed rates and increase yields of gasoline and other high octane fuels while reducing plant costs and emissions. Completion of the upgrade is expected in mid-1994.

TWO WORKERS WERE KILLED and a third was still missing at presstime last week after an Aug. 2 fire at Exxon Corp.'s 421,000 b/cd Baton Rouge refinery. The fire occurred in the plant's 32,000 b/cd east coker unit. All fuel lines hooked to the damaged unit were closed moments after the explosion. It took 3 hr to bring the fire under control.

GAS PROCESSING

BELLWETHER EXPLORATION CO., Houston, reports a joint venture in which it owns a 90% interest acquired an 11.759% interest in the Snyder gas processing plant and a 35.779% interest in the Diamond M-Sharon Ridge gas processing plant, both in Scurry County, Tex. The JV bought the plants from Oryx Energy Co. for a combined price of $13 million.

ARCH PETROLEUM INC.'S 50% owned unit Onyx Gathering Co. LC acquired the Taft gas processing plant and 50 miles of gathering system in San Patricio County, Tex. Onyx also finished laying its third gas line in San Patricio and Nueces counties, Tex., and started gas delivery through it. It has laid 15 miles of 8-12 in. gas pipeline to connect the three electrical power plants it supplies in South Texas.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.