INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

PIPELINES

PETROLEUM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND let contract to Bechtel International Inc., Bechtel Canada Inc., and Partec Lavalin Inc. for engineering and construction supervision for a $200 million gas pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand. Project includes a 32 in., 170 km line from Bongkot gas field to Erawan platform and a 24 in., 161 km line linking Erawan platform to a power plant in Khanom. Pipeline will deliver more than 250 MMcfd of gas to industries on Thailand's eastern and southern seaboard (OGJ, Apr. 29, p. 27).

TANKERS

NEDERLANDSE AARDOLIE MIJ. BV (NAM) let contract to Shell Tankers BV to transport oil from the first oil development in the Dutch North Sea to use a tanker loading transportation system. NAM is developing the oil and gas field in Block F3 with the first concrete gravity base platform in Dutch waters. First oil is scheduled for second half 1993.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

BHP PETROLEUM PTY. LTD.'S Jabiru Venture floating storage/production vessel in the Timor Sea off Australia prematurely uncoupled from its riser while being buffeted by Cyclone Marian, resulting in a 20 bbl crude spill that quickly dissipated earlier this month. No damage assessment was available at presstime, but early reports indicate damage to the riser connection and flowlines. Production of about 50,000 b/d is expected to resume in early August.

GHANA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP. let contract to Modec Inc., Houston, to study use of horizontal drilling technology to increase production from South Tano field and reactivate production in Saltpond field, both off Ghana. Modec plans to begin by August a 6-12 month test in South Tano by installing subsea Christmas trees on three existing wells for producing through flexible risers into a turret moored drillship. In Saltpond field, Modec will assess and replace or refurbish production equipment on Mister Loui jackup platform with plans to restart production by yearend or in 1992.

MOBIL ERDGAS-ERDOL GMBH drilled Germany's deepest horizontal well, 50 miles northwest of Hanover in Siedenburg field. Z-17 Siedenburg well, drilled to a vertical depth of 11,182 ft, tested at 15 MMcfd of gas, three times the field average. Horizontal section is 1,312 ft.

TOTAL/CIE. FRANCAISE DES PETROLES acquired 60% of Charter Oil Eastern's 24.5% stake in the Abu al-Bukhoosh producing concession off Abu Dhabi, raising its stake to 65.7% from 51%. Amerada Hess Corp. acquired the remainder of Charter's holding. Charter stands to gain more than $12 million from the sale.

DEN NORSKE STATS OIJESELSKAP AS let a $230 million contract to Kongsberg Offshore AS, Norway, for subsea installations for development of Statfjord North and East satellites in the Norwegian North Sea. The two fields, with combined reserves of 300 million bbl, are to start up in 1994. Development will require six subsea templates, 36 production wells, and 24 water injectors provided under the Kongsberg contract along with associated valve systems, control systems, and umbilicals.

LNG

GAZ DE FRANCE bought a 65% stake in the 50,000 cu m LNG carrier Le Descartes from Gazocean, which retains a 35% stake in the vessel. Le Descartes has been chartered to GdF for 10 years and will continue to work the route from Skikda, Algeria, to Fos-sur-Mer, France.

GOVERNMENT

SASKATCHEWAN plans to set up the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Conservation Board as an independent regulatory agency. The board would be similar to Alberta's long established energy board and would take over work from the Saskatchewan energy department. The new board would be funded equally by industry and government. Companies would pay a levy of $125 for each oil or gas well drilled.

GAS PROCESSING

BAHRAIN NATIONAL OIL CO. ordered a two train gas dehydration plant from KCC Process Equipment Ltd., England. Each train is rated to 60 MMcfd of sour gas using triethylene glycol as the desiccant.

COMPANIES

INTERHOME ENERGY INC., Toronto, shareholders and a Canadian federal court approved a split of the company into two publicly traded units, Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc., Edmonton, and Home Oil Co. Ltd., Calgary (OGJ, Mar. 25, p. 38). Olympia & York Developments Ltd., Toronto, which controls Interhome, has said it wants to sell a controlling interest in Interprovincial when the company is set up.

POCO PETROLEUMS LTD. and Voyager Energy Inc., both of Calgary, agreed in principle to a merger. The merger plan will be submitted to Voyager shareholders May 28. One Voyager share would be worth 0.85 Poco common shares.

EXPLORATION

ESSO PRODUCTION MALAYSIA INC. 1 Abu flowed a combined 12,000 b/d of 37-42 gravity oil on three tests of intervals at 4,265-5,575 ft on its PM 8 production sharing contract area 180 miles east of Terengganu, Malaysia. Esso pegs Abu reserves at about 100 million bbl. Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. is the other interest owner in the block.

CANADIAN HUNTER EXPLORATION LTD., Calgary, and Fina Resources Ltd. formed a $90 million exploration joint venture in Western Canada. Fina will fund exploration and administration costs in an initial 3 year program. Operator Canadian Hunter will provide land and seismic data. Land ownership will be split 50-50. The venture will target oil and gas prospects with emphasis on gas in Northeast British Columbia and Alberta.

STE. NATIONALE ELF AQUITAINE 1 Nunce Sud flowed 4,504 b/d of crude on two tests on Block 3-85 about 5 km east of Impala Southeast field off Angola. Elf is producing about 150,000 b/d from four fields off Angola and is developing a fifth, Impala, due to start up early next year. By 1993 output from the block is expected to be about 200,000 b/d. Partners in the block with Elf 50% are Agip (Angola) Ltd. 15%, Ajex Group (Mitsubishi Petroleum Development Co. Ltd.) 12.5%, Repsol SA 6.25%, Svenska Petroleum 6.25%, Ina Naftaplin 5%, and Naftagas 5%.

EXPORTS-IMPORTS

JAPAN'S crude oil imports jumped 13.1% to 1.5 billion bbl in 1990 as refined products imports declined and Japanese refinery runs increased. United Arab Emirates supplied the most crude, 21.4% of total imports. Middle East imports accounted for 71.5% of the total. Imports of fuel oil declined 18% to 254.56 million bbl.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.