INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS
SPILLS
SALVAGE OPERATIONS were scheduled to begin early last week off western Australia for the damaged Greek tanker Kirki, which spilled about 70,000-85,000 bbl of crude into the Indian Ocean after it sheared off at the bow and caught fire last month (OGJ, July 29, p. 32). Plans were to transfer Kirki's remaining 489,000 bbl of oil to the 90,000 dwt Flying Clipper tanker.
AN ACCIDENT at Drogobych refinery in the Lvov region of the Soviet Ukraine resulted in a spill of more than 1,460 bbl of oil into the Dniester River, water source to most of Moldavia and the Odessa region. Sampled water contained levels of phenol several times higher than the permissible level. By Aug. 6, the oil slick had reached Soroka, 150 km from Kishinev, Tass reported. Cause of the accident was not disclosed.
PETROCHEMICALS
A JAPANESE GROUP led by Mitsui & Co. received about $569 million compensation from Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry for losses from the Iran Japan Petrochemical Co. petrochemical project at Bandar Khomeini, Iran. Mitsui paid Iranian National Petrochemical Co. $952 million in 1990 to withdraw from the $4 billion project. Iran is pushing ahead with the complex expected to start up in 1993.
CHEVRON CHEMICAL CO. will be sole marketer of paraxylene and benzene from a planned Pertamina petrochemical complex at North Aceh, Indonesia. The 10 year agreement begins with planned start-up in January 1995. The plant is to produce 370,000 metric tons/year of paraxylene and 160,000 tons/year of benzene, which Chevron will market to the Far East. It will use condensate from Arun gas field as feedstock.
EXPORTS-IMPORTS
SOUTH KOREA'S Jindo Industries signed a contract to buy 5 million bbl of crude from the Soviet Union beginning this fall, marking the first contract involving direct Soviet crude deliveries to South Korea. In 1990 South Korea received 210,000 bbl of Soviet oil under an agreement with Japanese firms.
INDIAN OIL CORP. will import 100,000 metric tons of raw petroleum coke from Argentina to offset severe domestic shortfalls of the product.
COMPANIES
BRITISH PETROLEUM CO. PLC acquired a further 67.87% interest in the Spanish refiner/marketer Petroleos del Mediterraneo SA (Petromed) in a public offering, bringing its total shareholding to 92.77%. BP's offer values Petromed at $760 million.
EXPLORATION
EDWARD CALLAN INTERESTS, Houston, through its Karak Petroleum (Pakistan) Ltd. unit signed a petroleum exploration agreement with Pakistan covering the 177,170 acre Karak block in the Kohat-Potwar basin. Separately, Callan's Casamance Petroleum (Senegal) Ltd. signed a similar agreement with the Senegal government covering the 5,382 sq km offshore Block Dome Flore-Casamance area. Both agreements call for reprocessing seismic data and drilling a wildcat.
REFINING
CORPOVEN SA let contract to Fluor Daniel for conceptual engineering services for a grassroots refinery in eastern Venezuela. It will process heavy crude into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Scope of the work includes process licensor selection, preliminary refinery design, capital and operating cost estimates, a master schedule, and project execution plan. Engineering is under way in Houston with conceptual engineering scheduled for completion late this year.
PORTUGAL'S Petroleos de Portugal EP (Petrogal) let a $300 million contract to Cie. Francaise et de Construction (Technip) to upgrade its 206,000 b/d refinery at Sines. Plans include construction of a 35,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker, 26,000 b/d visbreaker, 45,000 b/d vacuum distillation unit, and two Merox units.
JAPAN'S Ministry of International Trade and Industry approved use of a maximum 7 wt % methyl tertiary butyl ether in gasoline for refinery shipments beginning in November.
PIPELINES
BRITISH GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION LTD. let contract to Andrew Palmer & Associates Ltd. for design of a 37 km, 36 in. gas pipeline from North Morecambe field in the Irish Sea to the onshore terminal at Barrow, U.K. The trunk line involves landfalls on Walney Island and Barrow with crossings of Walney Island and Walney Channel. Design includes a 3 in. methanol pipeline and installation of a power cable along the same route.
TRANSCANADA PIPELINES LTD., Calgary, let a $158 million contract to Stelco Inc., Hamilton, Ont., for 193 miles of 42 in. and 50 miles of 48 in. pipe to be used for system expansion in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. TransCanada has a $2.4 billion expansion program under way.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA'S state energy commission ordered six 563.3 MMcfd capacity, 12,600 hp turbine compressor sets each from Solar Turbines Inc. for about $37 million. The units have been shipped for installation on a 26 in., 900 mile natural gas pipeline from Dampier to Bunbury, Western Australia. One is for a new station at Peter Creek, one is being added to an existing station at Lyndon, and two each are for new stations at Yarlardy and Eneabba.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
TOTAL OIL MARINE PLC extended Markham gas field into southern U.K. North Sea Block 49/10b with its 49/5a-6z well, deviated into Block 49/10b. It flowed 31 MMcfd of gas and 218 b/d of condensate. Markham underlies Dutch North Sea Blocks J/3b and J/6 and U.K. Block 49/5a. Ultramar Exploration is to start up production in October 1992. A reserve estimate of 700 bcf of gas is likely to increase as a result of the Total well.
OIL & NATURAL GAS COMMISSION killed the Cauvery basin's first blowout in South India in July. Its Kovikalappal C delineation well blew out at a rate of about 3.5 MMcfd while drilling at 6,026 ft.
COGENERATION
CANADIAN UTILITIES LTD., Edmonton, will build a $115 million (Canadian), 120,000 kw, gas fired cogeneration plant at Taylor Flats in Northeast British Columbia. The plant is a joint venture of CU Power International division of Canadian Utilities and Westcoast Power Inc., Vancouver. It is to be complete in October 1993 to provide electricity to B.C. Hydro and steam for Westcoast's gas processing plant at the site.
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