Unocal Corp. plans a 1996 spending program (15173 bytes) of $1.35 billion that focuses on upstream oil and gas projects, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Caspian Sea.
The 1996 program is about 3.5% off the pace of 1995 spending. Downstream outlays will drop sharply this year because of completion of refinery modifications required to produce California reformulated gasoline.
The biggest chunk$920 million or 68%of 1996 outlays will go for worldwide petroleum exploration and production. About $530 million of the E&P budget is earmarked for non-U.S. regions, up 43% from 1995.
A major non-U.S. item is the Yadana project off Myanmar. This gas project, which includes four platforms and a 254 mile pipeline to the Thailand border, is to be in operation by mid-1998, with gross production expected to rise to 525 MMcfd. Unocal holds a 28.26% interest.
In Thailand, the company plans to spend about $160 million, up 23% from 1995, to develop additional gas productive capacity that will allow the company to sustain production at 950 MMcfd.
In Indonesia, the company will increase spending by 48% to $130 million to develop oil and gas reserves off East Kalimantan and step up exploratory drilling.
Unocal is a member of an international group that will move forward with a program to begin oil production by late 1996 in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan.
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