INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

PIPELINES

CANADA'S National Energy Board approved increases of 6.4% in transportation tolls that Trans Mountain Pipe Line Co. may charge for oil and products and 4.2% in tolls Interprovincial Pipe Line Co. may charge for crude, NGL, and products. Both increases are effective Jan. 1 .

ARAB PETROLEUM PIPELINE CO. (Sumed) of Egypt let a turnkey contract worth more than $665,000 to Jiskoot Autocontrol Ltd., Tunbridge Wells, England, to upgrade oil sampling systems and build a new sampling unit at Ain Sukhna, in the Gulf of Suez, and Sidi Kerir, on the Mediterranean Sea coast. The contract provides for Jiskoot to design and manufacture the entire package and train Sumed personnel.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

BOHAI OIL CORP., a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp., Beijing, let a contract valued at about $25 million to Hudson Engineering & Project Management Corp., New Orleans, for a floating production and storage unit. The contract provides for Hudson to design and procure all topsides oil and gas producing equipment for the FPSU, to be installed in the Bohai Bay area near Shanghai. The 45,000 b/d unit will separate oil from water and some gas from oil and reinject seawater into producing wells.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. UNITED KINGDOM LTD. will install a new living quarters platform in the southern basin of the U.K. North Sea to serve 48/29-A production and 48/29 field terminal platforms in Hewett gas field. The new platform will have three living quarters levels, a four legged steel jacket, and a cellar deck for utility equipment, with a bridge link to the production complex. Phillips plans to install it in third quarter 1992 and have it operational by yearend 1992.

CO-ENERCO CORP., Calgary, completed its purchase from Chevron Canada Resources of producing leases in the Rainbow area of Alberta for $6.8 million cash plus an interest in one producing lease. The purchase adds 1 million bbl to Co-enerco's proved oil reserves.

XINJIANG UYGUR autonomous region in Northwest China increased its oil production at a rate of 6.36%/year during the seventh 5 year plan, to 6.8 million tons in 1990 from 4.99 million tons in 1985, Xinhua News Agency said. Also, Northeast China's Jilin province increased oil production to more than 3.55 million tons in 1990 from 2.13 million tons in 1985, making it China's eighth largest oil producing area.

DORSET EXPLORATION LTD., Calgary, plans to buy leases and related facilities in greater Fairydell-Bon Accord area of Alberta from Esso Resources Canada Ltd. The leases, which Dorset will operate, include working and overriding royalty interests in four gas units, 32 oil wells, three gas wells, and four shut-in gas wells on about 52,000 gross acres. Net oil production in 1990 averaged 620 b/d.

CONOCO (U.K.) LTD. agreed to buy Phillips Petroleum Co.'s 7.5% interest in U.K. North Sea Block 16/26, operated by Chevron U.K. Ltd. The block holds Alba oil field and part of a large gas/condensate field.

EXPLORATION

HALLIBURTON GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES INC., Dallas, upgraded the MV Magnificent Creek marine seismic vessel, now stationed in Australia, with what it says is the industry's first dual 480 channel digital recording streamers. The Titan 1000 3D system has 6.25 m group intervals and will record multiseismic lines with the 960 channel recording system and Sleeve Air Gun arrays.

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP., Vancouver, B.C., will drill at least five wildcats this year in Yemen, Viet Nam, Libya, Malaysia, and India. In 1990, ]PC signed 12 joint venture agreements worth a total of about $100 million, all of which it will spend on exploration. It expanded its operations to 17 countries with acquisitions in the U.K. and South America and has concession applications pending in Libya, Algeria, Ethiopia, Thailand, and Yugoslavia.

HAMILTON OIL CORP, Denver, 1-9/29A wildcat in the U.K. North Sea flowed 23 MMcfd of gas and 1,300 b/d of 47 gravity condensate through a 36/64 in. choke at stabilized rates. It is the first well drilled on Block 9/29A, about 195 miles northeast of Aberdeen.

AUSTRIA and Pakistan signed an exploration agreement covering a 4,500 sq km concession in Pakistan's Sindh province, the ninth concession of the first licensing round for the province's Sukkur and Khairpur districts. The agreement calls for oil and gas companies of the two countries to conduct 1,500 km of seismic surveys and drill two wildcats at a cost of $7.2 million.

PETROCHEMICALS

U.S. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT found no national security issues sufficient to warrant further review of the proposed merger between RWE-DEA, Hamburg, its Alpha Acquisition Corp. unit, and Vista Chemical Co., Houston. RWE-DEA said it believes it has satisfied the Exon-Florio condition to its $55/share tender offer for Vista, which is scheduled to expire Feb. 25.

PT AMOCO INDOPRAKARSA, a joint venture of Amoco Chemical (Indonesia) and PT Lumbung Usahakita, were granted an investment license by Indonesia to build a 250,000 metric ton/year purified terephthalic plant on Java. The plant will use Amoco's proprietary PTA technology.

REFINING

IRAN'S Petroleum Ministry said it has cut the level of tetraethyl lead in gasoline sold in Iran to 0.19 g/l. from the 0.3 g/l. level of mid-1990 and plans a further reduction to 0.1 g/l. by 1993. Only its Tehran refinery produces low lead gasoline, but the ministry said Isfahan, Tabriz, and Shiraz refineries will soon supply it. Planned refineries in Bandar Abbas and Arak will be designed to yield low lead gasoline in the first production stage.

THE U.S. agreed to provide Ghana $420,000 to finance a feasibility study into expanding and modernizing the 26,600 b/cd Ghanaian Italian Petroleum CL oil refinery in Tema. The study will set out technical and financial requirements to increase the refinery's processing capacity and range of products.

SPILLS

BP EXPLORATION reported 15-20 metric tons of crude oil were spilled into the sea off Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetland Islands when a pipe fractured during loading of North Sea oil into the Finnish tanker Fanny at Jetty 3. The company said three spill response vessels had recovered 12.3 metric tons by presstime, and it has begun an investigation of the accident.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.