INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

PETROCHEMICALS

CHINA NATIONAL TECHNICAL IMPORT & EXPORT CORP. will use ABB Lummus Crest Inc.'s SRT IV high selectivity pyrolysis technology for a 140,000 metric ton/year ethylene plant at Dushanzi in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Lummus also will license BASF technology for a 27,000 ton/year butadiene extraction unit and provide design and start-up assistance for both units. Snamprogetti Ltd. is main contractor for the project (OGJ, June 3, p. 45).

NATIONAL AROMATICS & PETROCHEMICALS CORP. LTD., Madras, plans a 14 billion rupee ($667 million), naphtha fed purified terephthalic acid/aromatics complex at Manali, Tamil Nadu, India. It will produce 200,000 metric tons/year of PTA and 30,000 tons/year each of orthoxylene and benzene. It also will produce 140,000 tons/year of paraxylene for captive consumption. Completion is scheduled for 1994.

EXXON CHEMICAL CO. accepted an offer from employees of Exxon Chemical Pakistan Ltd. to buy the U.S. company's 27.8% interest in the Pakistani company. The buyout resulted from Exxon's reluctance to make further investment in fertilizers. The Pakistani company's name is now Engro Chemical Pakistan Ltd.

SAUDI BASIC INDUSTRIES CORP. affiliates sold about 857,300 tons of products during the first quarter, up from 764,600 tons in first quarter 1990, realizing total sales revenues of $594 million compared with $542 million last year. Profits rose 34% to $185.57 million from the year ago period.

RWE-DEA, Hamburg, completed its $590 million tender for Vista Chemical Co. (OGJ, May 27, p. 44), acquiring more than 85% of Vista's outstanding shares of common stock under a $55/share cash offer. Any shares not tendered will be acquired for $55/share in the subsequent merger.

EXPLORATION

INDIA'S ONGC VIDESH LTD. is seeking a multinational company as a partner to continue its Offshore Viet Nam exploration program. Among companies expressing an interest, ONGC Videsh said, are British Gas plc, British Petroleum Co. plc, International Petroleum Ltd., Royal Dutch Shell/Group, and Total Cie. Francaise des Petroles. ONGC started the program as a joint venture with state owned Petrovietnam 3 years ago and has spent $30 million without success.

ELF AQUITAINE OATAR'S 1 Alkhalij oil discovery on Block 6, about 62 miles off Qatar, flowed 1,650 b/d of 28 gravity oil through a 1/2 in. choke from a 134 ft pay zone. Agip SpA has negotiated to acquire a 45% interest in the block subject to Qatari government approval.

PAKISTAN signed separate petroleum concession agreements with M/S Canada Northwest Energy Ltd. and the U.K.'s Hurricane International. Plans call for the companies to provide combined outlays of $3.7 million covering a total of 500 line km of seismic surveys and two exploratory wells in either Jacobabad or Sukkar districts of Sind province and Rahimyar Khan district of Punjab province.

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP. is the first U.S. company to sign a production sharing agreement in the Melhrir trough of Northeast Algeria, signing with Algerian owned Sonatrach to explore the 25,250 square km Djemma Touggourt permit in the Sahara Desert. The 3 year exploration program includes seismic surveys and four exploratory wells. Oxy expects to begin the seismic program immediately and drill the first well in 1992.

HALLIBURTON GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES, Bedford, England, formed a joint venture with Bulgaria's Enterprise for Geophysical Exploration & Geological Mapping (Geofizika). The new company, Bulgarian Geophysical Services, will offer land and marine exploration services.

SCEPTRE RESOURCES LTD., Calgary, signed an agreement with the Blood Indian Nation covering exploration on a 51,200 acre area on the Blood reservation in southern Alberta. The agreement requires Sceptre to conduct a seismic study in the area, with the option of a drilling commitment well within the first 2 years of the permit.

PETROLEOS DE VENEZUELA SA is drilling 11 wildcats in Venezuela: six in Monagas state, two in Lake Maracaibo, two on the North Andean flank south of Lake Maracaibo, and one in the El Rosario area of Zulia state. It plans to add another rig in the North Andean region. In Apure state, Pdvsa is evaluating results of 1 Cutufito and is moving the rig to test the Sanare prospect.

TEXACO EXPLORATION BOLIVIA SUBANDINO INC. and partners acquired the 3.7 million acre Madidi block in Northwest Bolivia. Plans call for a 370 line km seismic survey during the initial 2 year exploration period. Texaco, operator, holds a 30% interest. Its partners are Mobil Boliviana de Petroleos Inc. and Shell Exploradora y Productora de Bolivia BY 30% each and Bolivia Andina Petroleum Corp. 10%.

HALLIBURTON GEOPHYSICAL SERVICES and Norex Exploration of Norway will conduct an 8,000-10,000 line km nonexclusive seismic survey covering areas of the Norwegian North Sea that may be available in Norway's 14th licensing round. The surveys will cover Blocks 31/1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11, Blocks 3/1, 4, and 5, Blocks 25/9 and 12, and Block 2/3. Data will be available in the second half. The companies also will conduct a 260 sq km 3-D survey on a prospective oil reservoir underlying Block 35/1.

U.S.S.R.'S TURKMEN S.S.R. released its model oil and gas exploration and production agreement for the first bidding round for foreign companies seeking exploration acreage in the Soviet Union. Tracts will be offered in the West Turkmen, Yashlar, Badkhyz, and Tedzhen areas at a Dec. 3, 1991, bidding round. Earlier, West Turkmen and Yashlar acreage was to be offered at a Sept. 25, 1991, bidding round, with the latter two areas offered Dec. 3 (OGJ, June 3, p. 108).

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) drilled oil and gas discoveries in the Bombay offshore area. Its BS-12 discovery well near South Bassein gas field flowed 8.8 MMcfd of gas. ONGC B-126, B-157, and B-192 structures off Bombay also yielded hydrocarbons. The B-126 discovery well flowed 1,470 b/d of oil, and ONGC estimates a field production potential of 20,000 b/d. The B-157 discovery well near the Bombay High area, flowed oil and gas at rates of 660 b/d and 8.8-9.9 MMcfd. ONGC also plans wildcats at Rajganl in West Bengal, Sundalbari in Tripure, and Madapadu in Andhra Pradesh.

ONGC plans to complete its first commercial gas discovery in the Bengal basin of India. It expects to finish production testing in 2 months at its Golf Green wildcat, 20 km south of Calcutta. Casing problems halted drilling at 18,701 ft en route to total depth 19,685 ft in the well, ONGC's 24th in the West Bengal region.

EXPORTS-IMPORTS

VENEZUELA will buy 1 million bbl of crude from Ecuador, which is having trouble placing its crude on world markets (OGJ, May 27, Newsletter). Crude type and terms aren't disclosed.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

ONGC agreed with government recommendations to shut in as many as 101 wells with gas:oil ratios exceeding 700:1 in the North Bombay High area of India (OGJ, Apr. 8, p. 39). ONGC plans workovers of 22 wells in North Bombay High and 36 in South Bombay High areas. An improved production response is expected after 2 years from continued waterflooding in the remaining 45 wells, thus avoiding workovers on them. The shutins will mean a loss of production of 102.2 million bbl during 1991-95.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP. increased reserve estimates for its 1,400 acre Toqui-Toqui field in Colombia to more than 10 million bbl of oil. The field and AIP's Puli anticline prospect are in the 90,000 acre Puli association contract area. New seismic surveys and reprocessed data led to the estimate increase.

NORSK HYDRO AS plans to sell its U.K. exploration and production holdings as part of an effort to concentrate on core production assets off Norway and expand international activities in frontier exploration areas such as the Soviet Union and West Africa. The company has 18 blocks off the U.K. and about 2,500 b/d of oil production from its share in Brae and Forties fields.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. U.K. LTD.'S 6 16/27a appraisal well on Kilda trend Block 16/27a in the U.K. North Sea flowed 13 MMcfd of gas and 1000 b/d of 49 gravity condensate through a 48/64 in. choke. Kilda is the largest gas/condensate play in the U.K. North Sea. Industry sources say the Phillips well, on the east flank of the Lower Cretaceous reservoir, could lead to an upgrading of estimated reserves in the area. Phillips operates on behalf of its group and a group led by Chevron U.K. Ltd. on Block 16/27b.

BP EXPLORATION let contract to Global Marine U.K. Ltd., Aberdeen, to manage and operate the Sea Explorer semisubmersible drilling rig in the North Sea through Dec. 31. Sea Explorer, a Sedco 700 unit, is one of 27 mobile units deployed worldwide by Global Marine Inc., Houston, including seven in the U.K.

NOWSCO WELL SERVICE LTD., Calgary, bought three service companies for a combined total of about $6 million (Canadian). They are Pulsearch Consolidated Technology Ltd., Calgary, Dowasue Industries Ltd., Edmonton, and Formac Services Ltd., Sarnia, Ont. They will become part of Nowsco's new industrial and pipeline services division.

COMPANIES

TOTAL PETROLEUM (NORTH AMERICA) LTD. spun off its Canadian oil and gas operations to shareholders effective June 1 with approval of Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (OGJ, Apr. 29, p. 46). Shareholders received one share of common stock of Total Canada Oil & Gas Ltd. for every share of Total Petroleum (North America) Ltd.

REFINING

A MAY 30 EXPLOSION AND FIRE injured as many as 15 persons in Shell France's 130,000 b/d refinery at its Berre l'Etang complex 4 miles west of Marseilles. It was not determined at presstime which units were affected. Shell said the fire started in an oil filled trench, which then ignited hydrocarbon vapors, causing the blast. The fire was under control within 1 hr.

A June 5 EXPLOSION AND FIRE killed one worker and injured 12 at state owned Trintoc's 116,000 b/d refinery at Pointe-aPierre, Trinidad, and will result in at least a 2-3 month shutdown of the refinery. Cause has not been determined. Trinidad and Tobago has a 6 month supply of gasoline, officials said.

SAMAREC-ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL GROUP'S export refinery at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, is likely to operate below capacity until early July following a fire in the hydrogen compression section of the hydrocracker unit at the end of May. The unit, with a nameplate capacity of 250,000 b/d, pushed throughput to 300,000 b/d during the Persian Gulf war and was running 270,000 b/d before the accident. Current throughput is about 80% of capacity, and exports of gas oil, naphtha, and jet fuel have been reduced.

BP OIL GRANGEMOUTH REFINERY LTD. let a front end engineering design contract to Stone & Webster Engineering Ltd., Milton Keynes, England, to debottleneck and revamp the catalytic reformer at its 198,500 b/d refinery at Grangemouth, Scotland. The project is part of BP's plan to increase unleaded gasoline production.

PETROLEOS DE VENEZUELA SA plans to start commercial tests of its HHC hydroprocessing technology at its Maraven SA unit's Cardon refinery in July. Pdvsa said the process substantially cuts sulfur and aromatics content of diesel and upgrades catalytic cracker feedstock using fixed bed catalysts under moderate temperature and pressure conditions. Applications include hydrogenation of medium distillates and hydroconversion and hydrogenation of heavy gas oils. Tests by Pdvsa research arm Intevep SA show HHC can boost diesel market value by about $1/bbl after sulfur and aromatics removal, Pdvsa said.

SASKOIL CORP., Regina, Sask., plans to buy an asphalt plant at Moose Jaw, Sask., for $8.4 million. The plant, operated by a unit of Producers Pipeline Inc., processes about 4,400 b/d of light and medium crudes and has significantly higher design capacity.

PIPELINES

KINETICA LTD. let a 5 million contract to Norwest Holst Ltd. for construction of the first U.K. gas pipeline to transport third party gas outside the British Gas plc system. Kinetica, owned by Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. and PowerGen plc, will lay the 32 mile, 20 in. line to move gas from Theddlethorpe terminal on the east coast of England to a 900,000 kw cogeneration plant being built at Killingholme by PowerGen.

A MAJOR GAS PIPELINE break occurred in the Soviet Union early this month at a connection near Ivanovo on the Nizhni Novgorod (Gorki)-Cherepovets line northeast of Moscow. The pipeline was shut down, and factories fed by the line were closed. Preliminary investigation showed metal fatigue caused the accident on the 30 year old pipeline.

STENA OFFSHORE, Aberdeen, is studying a deepwater version of its Stena Apache reelship in expectation of an upturn in deepwater drilling and development. Tentative plans call for converting a Stena diving support vessel to a reelship with a deepwater pipelaying capacity of more than 3,000 ft of water.