INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS
TANKERS
AN EXPLOSION injured 27 persons aboard the Bahamian flag Alexandros oil tanker while it was under repair in drydock at the Elevsis shipyard 12 miles west of Athens. The fire was extinguished in 20 min. Officials suspect hydrocarbon vapors in cargo holds may have been ignited.
A TANKER spilled about 157 bbl of heavy crude after colliding with a cargo ship in the Pacific Ocean about 220 miles off Tokyo because of poor visibility. Both vessels are Japanese.
EXPLORATION
A UNIT of British Gas plc tested 7,600 b/d of 35 gravity oil with no water from four zones in the Rhemoura wildcat on its West Kerkennah permit in Tunisia. Drilled to 10,111 ft, the well cut 175 ft of net pay. It is 3.7 miles from two concessions on the permit that produce about 1,428 b/d. BG Tunisia Inc. owns a 49% interest in the acreage in partnership with state owned Enterprise Tunisienne d'Activities Petrolieres (ETAP).
MARATHON OIL TUNISIA was awarded a 1,760 sq km onshore Tunisian permit in partnership with ETAP. The tract is about 22 miles southeast of Tunis.
TEXACO NORTH SEA U.K. CO. tested a west extension to its Lapworth gas/condensate field in the U.K. North Sea 126 miles northeast of Aberdeen. Its 15/29a-5 well flowed 19.5 MMcfd of gas and 2,300 b/d of condensate through an 80/64 in. choke from Lower Cretaceous sandstone at 13,150-196 ft. Texaco is running a 3D seismic survey on the block, which it owns 100%.
ELF AQUITAINE OFFSHORE ASIA BV'S 1 Jamalulalam discovery well, on Block B 50 km off the coast of Brunei Darussalam, flowed 6,000 b/d of oil, 1,730 b/d of condensate, and 63.5 MMcfd of gas from six zones covering an interval of 5,577 ft. It is the second discovery on Block B. Elf is operator with 72.5% interest in association with Jasra International Petroleum and other Bruneian interests.
PETROCHEMICALS
BANDAR IMAM PETROCHEMICALS CO. let a 1 billion franc ($178 million) turnkey contract to Technip France for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the natural gas fractionating unit at the Bandar Imam petrochemical complex in Iran.
REFINING
INDONESIA'S Pertamina let a contract valued at almost $500 million to Fluor Daniel for engineering, procurement, and construction involving an expansion of its 300,400 b/d Cilacap refinery. Debottlenecking and revamping process units and adding a third lube oil plant will boost refinery output by 15%. The project is to be complete within 39 months after financing is secured.
NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL CO. started up a 125,000 b/d distillation unit at its Abadan refinery Apr. 1, boosting the plant's capacity to 255,000 b/d.
ELF OIL LTD. AND MURCO PETROLEUM LTD. let contract to Matthew Hall Engineering, London, for a 36 million ($64.8 million), 7,500 b/d light virgin naphtha isomerization unit at its 108,000 b/d Milford Haven refinery in South Wales. The unit, involving a hydrodesulfurizer, a UOP Penex unit, and a deisohexanizer tower, will increase the refinery's unleaded gasoline capacity. It is to go on stream in third quarter 1992. Elf holds a 70% interest in the refinery, with the remaining 30% held by Murphy Oil Corp. unit Murco.
TRANSPORTATION
QUEBEC'S Ste. Quebecoise d'Initiatives Petrolieres and Gaz de France formed a joint venture to develop an underground gas storage site at Pointe-du-Lac on the St. Lawrence River. The joint venture will finance half the facility with the rest of the cost to be paid by Consulgaz, a subsidiary of Noverco, owner of Quebec's gas distribution network, Gaz Metropolitain. The joint venture is also looking at two other sites for gas storage in the province.
AN EXPLOSION ruptured a 48 in. Soviet crude pipeline running from Kuibyshev on the Volga River to the Ukraine's big Lisichansk refinery. The apparent cause was a faulty valve. The line spilled crude in Saratov province, polluting a river, Throughput at the refinery may be halted for lack of feedstock until the line can be restored to service.
ACQUISITIONS
BHP HOLDINGS (USA) INC., San Francisco, purchased 7,41 2,697 shares of outstanding common stock of Hamilton Oil Corp., Denver, bringing its stake in Hamilton to 78%. A merger of Hamilton and the unit of Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd., Melbourne, (OGJ, Mar. 18, p. 50) will be reviewed by Hamilton shareholders before formal approval. Key minority shareholders have agreed to vote for the merger. The outstanding shares not already owned by BHP were purchased for $40/share.
COMPANIES
NOVA CORP., Calgary, may split into two independent public companies pending results of a feasibility study. One company would conduct Nova's pipeline business, the other chemicals and petroleum. Results of the study will be available in about 2 months.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
A JOINT VENTURE of BP Canada Inc. and Ocelot Industries Ltd. reported success with a deep gas drilling program in the Monkman area of Northeast British Columbia. The venture tested flow rates of 12.5 MMcfd in its West Bullmoose c-88-H discovery well and 44 MMcfd in its West Sukunka c-78-J well. Two other wells have been cased and await testing, and two more are drilling in the area about 100 miles south of Fort St. John, B.C. BP and Ocelot each hold 50% interest in the Bullmoose discovery, with West Sukunka interests held 75% by BP and 25% by Ocelot.
PETRO-CANADA is offering nine producing leases for sale in western Canada as part of its rationalization program. The tracts, in Bindloss, Innisfail, Joffre, North Michici, South Michici, Paddle River, Plain Lake, Pembina Cardium, and Retlaw fields, had gross production of 500 b/d of liquids and 5.1 MMcfd of gas in 1990.
MARKETING
A 60-40 JOINT VENTURE of Finland's Neste Oy and Estonia's state owned fuel company Eesti Kutus (Kesoil) opened a service station in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. It is expected to sell 10 million l./year of fuel, including five grades of gasoline and diesel. Purchases at the 24 hr outlet can be made with western currency, international credit cards, or Neste-Kesoll debit cards. The venture opened a marine service station at Pirita yachting center in Tallinn in spring 1990.
Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.