INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

COMPANIES

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S Kaucuk Kralupy n. Vlt. hired Credit Suisse First Boston Ltd. to help the petrochemical/refining company in its proposed privatization. Kaucuk operates a 61,000 b/d hydroskimming refinery and produces methyl tertiary butyl ether, styrenic plastics, and rubber, as well as related monomers.

TANKERS

CHEVRON CORP. dedicated its 150,000 dwt Bruce Smart tanker Sept. 23, the third of four Identical tankers being built for Chevron under a contract with Mitsui & Co. and Ishikawajima Harima Heavy industries Co. Ltd. (OGJ, March 25, p. 32). The last vessel is to be delivered in February 1992. The Bruce Smart will carry about 1.1 million bbl of oil on each voyage and first will deliver a cargo of West African crude to Chevron's Philadelphia refinery.

PETROCHEMICALS

DEN NORSKE SLATS OLJESKELSKAP AS plans a $384 million, 500,000 metric ton/year MTBE plant at Karsto, north of Stavanger, Norway. Due on stream in 1995, it will adjoin a gas pipeline terminal that will provide isobutane feedstock. Methanol will come from a new methanol plant Statoil and Conoco Inc. have proposed for Central Norway or from the international market.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO METHANOL CO. LTD. (TTMC) licensed Phillips Petroleum Co.'s Star and MTBE technologies for a planned MTBE plant at Point Lisas, Trinidad. The plant will convert about 3,150 b/d of domestic butanes to MTBE for export and is to start up in mid-1994.

OCELOT INDUSTRIES LTD., Calgary, completed a $51.6 million (Canadian) deal to buy interests in methanol plants in Texas and Trinidad from Metallgesellschaft Corp., Germany. Ocelot will acquire a 40% production interest in a 350,000 metric ton/year Texas plant operated by Tenneco Inc. and a 10% interest in a 1,500 ton/day plant under construction in Trinidad by Caribbean Methanol Corp. Ocelot, which operates a methanol plant at Kitimat, B.C., will pay for the acquisitions with 9.4 million shares of Ocelot common stock.

HYUNDAI PETROCHEMICAL CO. dedicated its $1.7 billion petrochemical complex in Daisan, South Korea (OGJ, Nov. 14, 1988, p. 46). The 350,000 metric ton/year ethylene unit uses M.W. Kellogg Co.'s millisecond technology and feeds downstream polymer and monomer units at the complex.

MITSUBISHI PETROCHEMICAL CO. and Idemitsu Petrochemical Co. plan to reduce ethylene production in the fourth quarter because of weak demand, Kyodo News Service reported. Mitsubishi plans a 10-15% cut, but Idemitsu did not detail plans.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TOTAL 2 NW Peciko delineation well on Mahakam block off eastern Kalimantan, Indonesia, flowed at a combined rate of 49 MMcfd of gas and 980 b/d of 40.2-56.1 gravity condensate from several zones. Total depth is 12,103 ft. The field was discovered with 1 NW Peciko well earlier this year (OGJ, May 13, p. 41), and additional wells are planned. Total said the field will bring significant added reserves to the East Kalimantan gas system, which supplies the Bontang LNG plant.

CONOCO (U.K.) LTD. 15/30-9 appraisal well on Lap-worth-Kilda prospect off the U.K. flowed 35 MMcfd of gas and 3,670 b/d of oil and condensate. Conoco owns a 66.67% interest in the block, Chevron U.K. Ltd. the remaining interest.

MORGAN HYDROCARBONS INC., Calgary, started up its $34.8 million, 6,000 b/d Senlac oil field in Southwest Saskatchewan, producing from 60 horizontal wells. Morgan began operating at Senlac field in 1990. The company also operates and plans to expand operations in 3,000 b/d Long Lake field in Saskatchewan, which produces from 19 horizontal wells. Morgan holds 60% interest in Senlac field, with Standard Life Assurance Co. of Canada and OHA Investments Ltd. holding the remaining interest.

CLYDE PETROLEUM EXPLORATIE BV started production from Waalwijk field in the Netherlands' Brabant province. A single well is producing 21 MMcfd, and a second well is to be added by yearend. Partners are Chevron Nederland BV, Phillips Petroleum Co. Netherlands, Nederlandse Aardolie Mij. BV, and Energie Beheer Nederland BV.

SASKATCHEWAN OIL AND GAS LTD., Regina, Sask., closed a previously announced $74.3 million purchase of oil and gas properties from Esso Resources Canada Ltd. The purchase will increase Saskoil's oil reserves by 18%, or 22.5 million bbl, and production by 6,600 b/d and gas production by 1.8 MMcfd.

QATAR GENERAL PETROLEUM CORP. let contract to Technip Geoproduction, Paris, for revamping facilities in Idd el Shargi field off Qatar. Work includes revamp of two platforms, design and construction of six wellhead platforms in 115 ft of water, and laying six interconnecting 12 in. pipelines. The project also involves a new power generation platform and production platform with header export pumps.

DRILLING CO. OF ABU DHABI agreed to buy drilling equipment and supplies from DI Industries Inc., Houston, for $6.8 million. Purchase includes a 20,000 ft capacity rig and trucks and other equipment adapted for the desert.

EXPLORATION

TEXACO EXPLORATION MYANMAR INC. and Nippon Oil Exploration Ltd. acquired a farmout on Blocks M13 and M14 off Myanmar held by U.K. independent Premier Consolidated Oilfields plc. Texaco has taken a 50% stake and Nippon Oil 20%, leaving Premier with 30%. Premier has completed reinterpretation and reprocessing of existing seismic data and is shooting additional seismic prior to start of drilling next year.

FORTUNE PETROLEUM CORP., Agoura Hills, Calif., signed an exclusive 10 year agreement with Soc. Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola to market and sell 1,150 km of proprietary seismic data and 22,401 km of proprietary aeromagnetic survey data Fortune acquired in 1987. Fortune will market the data, and proceeds will be split between the two. The data blocks are near onshore and offshore production.

COGENERATION

WESTCOAST ENERGY INC., B.C. Hydro, and Fletcher Challenge Ltd. are planning a $60 million (Canadian), 70,000 kw gas fired cogeneration plant at the Elk Falls pulp and paper mill on Vancouver Island.

RESEARCH

MARATHON OIL CO. and partners started a research joint venture on logging horizontal wells using the flow loop process. The U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have given an antitrust exemption to participants, including Agip SpA, Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine, Japan National Oil Corp., Saga Petroleum AS, and Computalog Wireline Products Inc., Fort Worth.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.