U. S. BRIEFS

COURTS

A TEXAS APPELLATE COURT upheld a judgment in favor of Yemen Hunt Oil Co. et al. in a 1988 suit filed against Hunt by Arabian Shield Development Co. (OGJ, Oct. 3, 1988, p. 44). Dorchester Master Limited Partnership is no longer part of the suit. The plaintiffs had alleged Hunt cheated them out of a concession in what was then North Yemen.

REFINING

PHILLIPS 66 CO.'S 175,000 b/d Sweeny, Tex., refinery was expected to be back in normal operation late last week after an Apr. 13 explosion and fire that damaged its 70,000 b/d atmospheric resid desulfurization unit and injured two contract workers. Cause of the accident was not known at presstime. Phillips said the accident won't have a significant effect on its ability to meet customer needs.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

PLAINS PETROLEUM RESOURCES INC., Houston, sold certain Midcontinent producing leases to undisclosed buyers for $23 million. Plains will retain all its undeveloped acreage in the region. Proceeds from the sale will go to trim debt, provide funds for Plains' crude storage unit in Cushing, Okla., and fund development of recent Gulf Coast oil discoveries.

CONOCO INC.'S Midland and Oklahoma City divisions offered for sale interests in oil and gas producing leases in eight states. The Midland division offered interests in 27 operated and nonoperated onshore leases in Texas and New Mexico. The Oklahoma City division is offered several lease packages in Oklahoma, California, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and New Mexico. Bid deadlines are May 8 for the Midland division packages and May 17 for the Oklahoma City division leases.

NICOR OIL & GAS CORP., Denver, completed a fourth Permo-Pennsylvanian Minnelusa oil well in Mallard oil field of Powder River basin, Campbell County, Wyo. Its 22-34 Merganser Federal pumped 540 b/d of oil. The well offsets the 13-34 Mallard Federal discovery, which produced 295 b/d of oil.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY plans to tighten its general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System requirements for the western Gulf of Mexico. The changes, detailed in the Apr. 16 Federal Register, would allow the static sheen test to be used to detect free oil, add monitoring for radiation, ban discharge of drilling fluids to which diesel oil was added as a pill, and limit levels of cadmium and mercury in discharged drilling fluids.

HOME-STAKE ROYALTY CORP., Tulsa, acquired reserves totaling about 929,000 bbl of oil and 34.865 MMcf of gas in Dawson County, Mont., from Shell Western E&P Inc. Terms aren't disclosed. Home-Stake Oil & Gas Co., Tulsa, will purchase a 50% interest in the properties from Home-Stake Royalty.

DRACO PETROLEUM INC., Tulsa, purchased the general partnership interest of Draco Gas Partners LP from MEGA Natural Gas Co. The partnership owns interests in more than 400 oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas and reserves of more than 25 bcf and 500,000 bbl of oil. Draco is seeking more acquisitions.

ACQUISITIONS

COMSTOCK RESOURCES INC., Dallas, signed a letter of intent to acquire Tidemark Exploration Inc., Tulsa, effective May 1. Comstock also will form a joint venture with Liberty Life Insurance Co., Greenville, S.C., to drill a series of wells on Comstock leases in the Texas Panhandle. In the deal, Comstock will acquire reserves totaling 28,188 bbl of oil and 4.5 bcf of gas in return for 325,000 shares of Comstock common stock, $350,000 cash, and $300,000 in promissory notes.

COMPANIES

MUNICIPAL GAS AUTHORITY OF GEORGIA, Atlanta, will pay $22.4 million to Tex/Con Oil & Gas Co., Houston, for overriding royalty interests in Provident City field gas reserves in Colorado and Lavaca counties, Southeast Texas. The agreement assures MGAG access to 16 bcf of gas for not less than 5 years at market clearing prices. Tex/Con will continue producing reserves and managing delivery and redelivery to 48 MGAG municipalities with distribution systems connected to Southern Natural Gas Co.

WISER OIL CO., Sisterville, W. Va., will receive a nonrecoupable payment of $2 million in settlement of a take or pay dispute with an undisclosed gas purchaser.

PETROCHEMICALS

CF INDUSTRIES INC.'S Donaldsonville, La., ammonia plant set a world record for continuous operation. It operated for 747 consecutive days, from Jan. 23, 1989, to Feb. 9, 1991, producing more than 1 million tons of ammonia with only 80 min of downtime. When the plant started up in 1977, it went from first feed to full production in a record 8 1/2 days. M.W. Kellogg Co., Houston, designed and built the plant.

PIPELINES

ASSOCIATED NATURAL GAS INC., Denver, signed a letter of intent to purchase a Wattenberg field gas pipeline system in Colorado from Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., subject to certain third party rights and regulatory approval. The system consists of about 1,275 miles of pipeline, eight compressor stations, and related facilities near Denver.

EXXON CORP. agreed to take further steps before reopening the Arthur Kill pipeline. The line spilled about 13,500 bbl of heating oil into the Arthur Kill waterway off New York and New Jersey in January 1990. Exxon will be required to test the system, maintain spill protection systems, and conduct inspections of the surface near the line's right-of-way.

MARKETING

COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS fueling stations opened in two U.S. cities. Washington Gas and Amoco Corp. are jointly operating a CNG station that opened Apr. 18 in Washington, D.C. Shell Oil Co. opened two CNG pumps in Sacramento, the first at a service station in California. CNG motor fuel previously was available in California only at private stations owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

BP AMERICA INC. expects to complete by the end of May conversion of the remaining 1,000 Sohio brand service stations to the BP logo. In 1987, British Petroleum Co. plc bought the remaining interest in Standard Oil Co. of Ohio it did not already own and began a program to eliminate the Standard Oil name.

ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY plans to grant owners of 12 or fewer underground storage tanks a short extension of the October 1991 deadline to comply with insurance requirements. The extra time will be used to help states develop insurance funds for tank owners.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.