INDUSTRY BRIEFS

ALTERNATE FUELS

CALIFORNIA ENERGY CO. INC.,

Omaha, agreed to buy Unocal Corp.'s Glass Mountain/Medicine Lake geothermal leases in northern California for an undisclosed sum. Unocal holds 61% interest in the 41,000 acre federal unit that includes three producing wells. The unit is 35 miles northeast of Mount Shasta and 25 miles south of the California-Oregon border. The deal follows Unocal's agreement to sell its Imperial Valley geothermal assets to Magma Power Co., San Diego, for $196 million after tax (OGJ, Dec. 21, 1992, p. 27).

REFINING

MOBIL OIL SINGAPORE

started construction of a $90 million catalytic hydrodesulfurization unit at its 235,000 b/d Jurong refinery. The project includes a 25,000 b/d high pressure catalytic hydrodesulfurizer supported by a 25,000 b/d amine unit and a 120 ton/day sulfur recovery unit. It is to be complete early in 1994.

BASIC RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL

started up a 4,000 b/d refinery in the Peten area of Guatemala. The plant processes Guatemalan Xan crude and produces asphalt, naphtha, kerosine, diesel fuel, and distillate fuel oil. Previously all asphalt consumed in the country had to be imported. Juno-Grimm & Associates, Richardson, Tex., prepared all process and mechanical design for the 2 1/2 year project, assisted in equipment procurement, provided field supervision during construction, and directed plant operations during start-up.

ENVIRONMENT

KUWAIT

has recovered 20-25 million bbl of crude from about 50 oil lakes formed after Iraqi troops set fire to about 732 wells during their occupation of Kuwait in late 1990 and early 1991. Beijing's Xinhua News Agency reported 5 million bbl of crude have been sold, and Kuwait Oil Co.'s Mohamed Al-Gazzaf said if Kuwait oil companies continue to find customers for the light crude, the oil lakes could be cleaned up by mid-1993.

PETROCHEMICALS

CONSTRUCTION BANK OF CHINA

agreed with 13 international banks to provide a $350 million syndicated loan to build a 300,000 metric ton/year ethylene plant at Maoming (OGJ, July 27, 1992, p. 44). The project is to cost 10 billion yuan ($1.83 billion), including $735 million in foreign support, and is to start production by yearend 1995.

INDONESIA'S

urea and ammonia production is expected to increase to about 6 million metric tons/year from 5 million tons/year with completion of a 460,000 ton/year plant and a 570,000 ton/year plant. State owned PT Petrokimia Gresik and PT Pusri will operate the plants, which will be financed by a soft loan from World Bank and a loan from a group of Indonesian banks. Ammonia processing equipment will be supplied from the U.S. Pertamina has agreed to provide natural gas feedstock starting in June.

ARCO CHEMICAL CO.

began commercial production last Dec. 14 of ethyl tertiary butyl ether at Coastal Refining & Marketing Inc.'s methyl tertiary butyl ether plant in Corpus Christi (OGJ, Sept. 7, 1992, p. 35). The operation demonstrates the flexibility of the MTBE plant, which is under long term lease to ARCO. The first production run aims to produce 130,000 bbl of ETBE, allowing major refiners to evaluate ETBE's value in gasoline blending. Increases in ETBE production will be determined by demand, ARCO said.

OILSANDS

SUNCOR INC.'S

oilsands plant in the Fort McMurray area of northern Alberta was shut down Dec. 26 by power failures and arctic temperatures. Suncor hoped to resume production soon after Jan. 1. Failure of a high voltage electrical system killed power to boilers, and oil upgrading equipment froze. Temperatures of about -40 C. and poor visibility were hampering repair operations. The Suncor plant normally produces about 60,000 b/d of synthetic crude oil. Syncrude Inc., which also operates an oilsands plant in the region, said production was normal.

EXPLORATION

TRITON ENERGY CORP.,

Dallas, 1 Liebre wildcat on the El Pinal contract area in Colombia's Magdalena Valley flowed at a combined rate of about 1,100 b/d of 29 gravity crude from two intervals at 11,386-495 ft. The targeted La Paz series L sands are below 13,000 ft, but the well was not drilled that deep due to mechanical problems.

PETROLEOS MEXICANOS'

101-A Sinan wildcat in Campeche Sound off Southeast Mexico will produce at a rate of 496 b/d of light oil and 5 MMcfd of gas, initial tests show. Total depth is 5,603 m. The wildcat is 44 km north of Frontera, Tabasco.

NESTE OY

will earn half of Samedan Oil of Tunisia Inc.'s working interest in the Tazerka, Isis, Cosmos, Yasmin, Birsa, and Oudna concessions and the 1.2 million acre Cap Bon Marin exploration permit in Tunisia by participating in certain drilling and seismic programs. Plans for the next 12 months include drilling a well on the Tazerka and Oudna concessions and conducting a 3D seismic survey on the Isis concession.

GUYANA HUNT OIL CO.,

a unit of Hunt Oil Co., Dallas, spudded a wildcat in the Takatu basin in the Reupununi area near the Guyana-Brazilian border. Drilling follows 3 years of field work under a petroleum prospecting license granted by the government in 1989 covering 10,294 sq km in Guyana's jungle (see map, OGJ, Jan. 22, 1990, p. 18). Xinhua reported the well is to take 10-13 weeks to drill to total depth 10,000-12,000 ft.

ANGOLA'S

Sonangol signed a production sharing agreement with a group led by Elf Exploration Angola covering Block 17 about 200 km northwest of Luanda in water depths of 200-1,500 m (see map, OGJ, Feb. 10, 1992, p. 36). The 5,000 sq km block is one of the first deepwater blocks negotiated by Sonangol. Elf holds a 50% interest in the block with partners Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Ltd. 20%, Fina Exploration M'Bridge BV 15%, and Norsk Hydro Dezassete AS 15%.

NOVA SCOTIA

awarded coalbed methane rights in the Cumberland basin to a group led by Resource Enterprises Inc. (REI), Salt Lake City (OGJ, Aug. 24, 1992, p. 25). Nova Scotia firms Logan Drilling Ltd., Victoria Mining Services, and G.P. Isenor Co. Ltd. will participate with REI. The agreement calls for three wildcats to be drilled by the end of the second year, and at least three production test wells must be drilled by the end of the third year.

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL

PETROLEUM CORP.,

New York, 1 Quina wildcat on the 188,000 acre Viani contract area in Colombia's Magdalena Valley cut two intervals in Tertiary Guadualas and Cretaceous Monserrate with encouraging oil shows. The company said sidewall cores and electric log results indicate about 193 ft of net sand for testing. Total depth is 8,045 ft. Casing has been set, and a completion rig with testing equipment will be taken under contract. The 1 Pitaya, also on the Viani contract area, was plugged and abandoned at 4,830 ft.

GAS PROCESSING

GULF COAST FRACTIONATORS

(GCF), a joint venture of Trident NGL Inc. and MND Energy Corp., both of Woodlands, Tex., let a $34 million engineering and construction contract to Pritchard Corp., Overland Park, Kan., to add 40,000 b/d of capacity to GCF's 80,000 b/d natural gas liquids fractionation plant at Mont Belvieu, Tex. The expansion is to be complete in second half 1994.

TRANSPORTATION

INTERCONTINENTAL TERMINALS CO.,

Houston, will buy the deepwater export facilities of Farmland Industries Inc. on the Houston Ship Channel. ITC will integrate Farmland's Houston terminal, which includes two tanker berths, 87 acres, and more than 25,000 ft of rail track, with ITC's 6 million bbl storage and distribution terminal adjacent the Farmland facility. When the sale is complete in the spring, ITC will have available five deepwater tanker berths capable of handling the biggest ships the Houston Ship Channel can accommodate.

PLAINS TERMINAL & TRANSFER CORP.,

Houston, agreed to provide ARCO Pipe Line Co. as much as 500,000 bbl of crude storage at Plain's Cushing, Okla., site. The agreement is for 1 year with option to renew. The deal allows ARCO to increase capacity on its Texas City, Tex., to Cushing pipeline, the largest line delivering Gulf Coast crude to Cushing. The part of the storage site ]eased to ARCO is to be placed in service in first quarter 1993. Plains said the portion of storage under contract to ARCO represents about 25% of capacity under construction at the site. The entire facility is to be operational by June 1993.

KANEB PIPE LINE PARTNERS LP,

Dallas, agreed to buy Support Terminal Services Inc. (STS) from Grace Energy Corp., also of Dallas, for $63 million. STS owns and operates 20 liquids terminals throughout the country with the largest in Texas City, Tex., and Baltimore. STS has more than 6.3 million bbl of storage capacity, with about one third at Texas City.

FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION CO.,

Houston, is holding an open season Dec. 21, 1992, through Mar. 22, 1993 for Phase IV expansion of its interstate pipeline system while trying to obtain authorization for its Phase III expansion (OGJ, Sept. 7, 1992, p. 32). Florida Gas applied in November 1991 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to construct the Phase III expansion, which would increase capacity of the system by 530 MMcfd to 1.4 bcfd. Phase IV expansion is to be accomplished mainly by adding compression.

COGENERATION

TRANSCO POWER CO.

and Destec Energy Inc., both of Houston, completed project financing for a 300,000 kw cogeneration plant in Hart County, Ga. The Hartwell project will supply peaking power to Oglethorpe Power Corp., which sells wholesale electricity to 39 of Georgia's 42 electric cooperatives. The project is to be in operation in first quarter 1994. Transco and Destec also completed equity financing of another joint project, the 424,000 kw Oyster Creek cogeneration project near Freeport, Tex. (OGJ, Sept. 21, 1992, p. 47), to be operational in 1994.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

HUNT OIL CO.,

Dallas, completed the purchase of most of the U.S. oil and gas assets of Pacific Enterprises Oil Co. for $371 million (OGJ, Oct. 19, 1992, p. 34). The deal includes leases mainly in Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, and Mississippi that will add reserves of about 63 million bbl of oil equivalent and almost 1.4 million gross acres of oil and gas leases to Hunt.

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP.

(IPC), Vancouver, B.C., let contract to Bahrain's OPMI for construction of offshore facilities, including jacket/topside fabrication and pipeline installation, for Bukha field development off Oman, the country's first offshore project (OGJ, July 27, 1992, Newsletter). Construction is to be complete by Nov. 30, 1993. The project includes completing two wells and tying production to onshore facilities in Ras Al Khaimah. Production is expected at first to be about 4,500 b/d of condensate, 1,100 b/d of liquefied petroleum gas, and 40 MMcfd of residual gas.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. U.K. LTD.

let a $43 million contract for detailed design and procurement to Kvaerner H&G Offshore Ltd. for its Judy/Joanne field development program after approving with partners Agip (U.K.) Ltd. and British Gas Exploration & Production Ltd. a development plan and budget for the project. Initial production from the two fields, about 175 miles off Aberdeen, is expected to be about 65,000 b/d of liquids and 260 MMcfd of gas. Gas will move to Teesside, England, through the Central Area Transmission System, while liquids will go via Ekofisk field to Teesside through the Norpipe system. Estimated cost of the project is $1.2 billion.

MANITOBA

announced a royalty break to encourage horizontal drilling projects. The energy department said the first 62,900 bbl of crude produced from a new horizontal well will be exempt from provincial royalties or freehold production taxes. Currently, there is only one horizontal drilling project in the province, near Virden in Southwest Manitoba.

CLYDE PETROLEUM PLC,

Hereford, U.K., signed an agreement with Yemen's Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources to explore Block 10b in Handramaut province. Clyde is operator with 10%, while local company Ansan Wikfs (Hadramaut) Ltd. holds 90%. The drilling commitment is for one well within 2 years after the deal is ratified by the government.

COMPANIES

SEAGULL ENERGY CORP.,

Houston, purchased the outstanding common stock of Arkla Exploration Co. for about $397 million. Seagull will call the unit Seagull Mid-South Inc. The deal includes natural gas and oil reserves and developed and undeveloped leases that have reserves of about 585 bcf of gas and 7.3 million bbl of crude and liquids. Seagull is financing the deal through a new credit facility from a group of U.S. banks.

CHINA NATIONAL OFFSHORE OIL CORP.

(Cnooc) signed a contract to supply about 280 MMcfd of gas from Yacheng 13-1 field in the South China Sea to a buyer represented by Castle Peak Power Co., Hong Kong (OGJ, June 1, 1992, p. 30). The contract starts Jan. 1, 1996, and gas will flow through an 800 km subsea pipeline from the field, owned by Cnooc, ARCO, and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., to Hong Kong, where it will supply a power station. Contract term is 20 years.

SPILLS

NORWEGIAN PETROLEUM DIRECTORATE

plans to survey pollution from drilling and production on the Egersundsbanken area southwest of Stavanger as part of Norway's annual cleanup program. The Lance survey vessel will check a 1,300 sq km area for pollutants while collecting geological data for Norges Geologiske Undersokelse.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.