INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

SPILLS

GREEK FLAGGED Theomana tanker's hull ruptured in heavy seas Sept. 3, spilling an undetermined amount of oil into the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil. The tanker, under contract to Petroleo Brasileiro SA, was loading crude in Albacora field in the Campos basin and had a 300,000 bbl cargo when the accident occurred. There were no injuries. The cause of the accident was unknown at presstime.

EXPLORATION

JAPAN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION CO. drilled a discovery well in Akita prefecture of Northeast Japan that flowed 524 b/d of oil and 11 6-124 Mcfd of gas from pay at 5,576-5,641 ft. The strike is at Yurimachi in the southwest part of the prefecture near a gas field discovered 2 years ago. Akita is the second largest oil producing prefecture in Japan with production totaling 2,025 b/d.

ELF AQUITAINE MALAYSIA'S A21-1 discovery well on Block SK3 about 200 km off Sarawak flowed 1,320 b/d of 34.2 gravity oil through a 1/2 in. choke and 11.4 MMcfd of gas and 1,500 b/d of condensate through a 3/4 in. choke on tests of two Lower Miocene zones. Total depth is 2,727 m. Elf's joint venture partners are Norsk Hydro Malaysia and Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd.

ISRAMCO INC. raised about $7.5 million for continued exploration in Israel through an Isramco-Negev 2 Limited Partnership offering to the Israeli public. An Israeli subsidiary of isramco is general partner of the limited partnership. In the event of a discovery, Isramco will receive a 1% override before payout offshore, 5% before payout onshore, and 13% after payout onshore and offshore.

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM CO. U.K. LTD.'S 30/7a-10 wildcat on its Julia prospect in the U.K. North Sea flowed 6,000 b/d of 41 gravity oil and 6.5 MMcfd of gas through a 1 in. choke on a drillstem test of an undisclosed interval. Total depth is 14,595 ft. The prospect is on Block 30/7a, 5 miles northwest of Judy and Joanne fields and about 40 miles northwest of the Ekofisk complex.

REFINING

KENYA plans a second refinery at Mombasa under a 50-50 joint venture agreement with Iran. The refinery will get crude from Iran and export products to a preferential trade zone that has been established for eastern and southern Africa. Mombasa's existing refinery serves Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Zaire.

QILU PETROCHEMICAL CORP. installed a wastewater treatment unit in its Shengli, China, refinery designed to treat more than 75,500 b/d of high sulfur crude contaminated wastewater. The equipment is the first of its kind in China.

BEIHAI COMPREHENSIVE CHEMICAL PLANT is complete, the largest refinery in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of South China with throughput capacity of 4,000 b/d. Joint venture partners in the complex are Beihai City, Guangxi Trust & Investment Co., and China National Offshore Oil Co.'s Nanhai West Oil Co.

TANKERS

NIPPON OIL CO.'S 258,000 dwt Sunrise 11 tanker is complete, built at the Nagasaki yard of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. at a cost of 9 billion yen. The tanker will transport crude from the Middle East to Japan.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

PARKER DRILLING CO., Tulsa, bought three electric rigs from Challenger International Services Ltd., Calgary, destined to work in Pakistan and the Far East. One of the rigs is rated to 20,000 ft, and the other two are rated to 16,000 ft. Two of the rigs will be based in Pakistan where Parker is opening a new division. The purchase brings Parker's fleet to 126 rigs.

HAMILTON BROS. OIL & GAS LTD.'S 110/13-10 appraisal well in the Irish Sea off England flowed 3,600 b/d of 46 gravity oil through a 44/64 in. choke. It is about 1/2 mile southeast of Hamilton's December 1990 discovery (OGJ, Dec. 24, 1990, p. 27) and about 5 miles southwest of Hamilton gas field on the same block. All other reserves found in the area are gas. Hamilton operates on behalf of Hamilton Oil GB plc, Ultramar Exploration, and Monument Resources Ltd.

HIBERNIA MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT CO. LTD. let contract to Halliburton Geophysical Services Inc. for 500 sq km of 3-D seismic coverage of Hibernia oil field on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. The survey, using the Indian Seal seismic vessel, is to be complete in this month.

PAN OCEAN OIL CORP. plans to sign a 4 year agreement to boost production in Ogharefe field on its 250,000 acre Nigerian concession to 12,770 b/d from 1,300 b/d. The company plans 15 wells next year in the Niger Delta basin's OML 98 concession, where it holds a 40% interest and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. 60%. The agreement also covers installation of gas separation units. Associated gas reserves are estimated at 370 bcf.

YEMEN HUNT OIL CO. and Exxon Yemen Inc. signed an agreement with Yemen Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources for a 6 month study of utilizing gas from the Marib-Jawf producing concession. The study will evaluate prospects for using gas domestically and for export.

PIPELINES

YUGOSLAVIA'S Makpetrol let a $58 million, 20 year turnkey contract to the Soviet Union's Soyuzgazeksport for design and construction of a 100 km pipeline to deliver Soviet gas from Kriva Palanka near the Bulgarian border to the Macedonian republic capital of Skopje. Construction, to begin in November, is to be complete in 27 months. First gas deliveries are expected in early 1994, but a contract for long term gas supply has not been signed.

IMPERIAL PIPE LINE CO. LTD. received approval from Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board to convert a 95 km crude Alberta pipeline between Rimbey and Edmonton to transport natural gas with nominal capacity of 98 MMcfd, rejecting intervention by Northwestern Utilities Ltd. Imperial affiliate Esso Resources (1989) Ltd. plans the conversion to boost gas production and improve operating flexibility. Northwestern wants Esso to use its existing gas pipeline.

NIGERIA will add 1,000 km of pipeline to its 3,000 km system to link three refineries and 17 terminals. Plans include building three terminals with total capacity of 1,562,400 bbl and adding storage tanks with capacity of 1,736,000 bbl to existing terminals.

COLOMBIA'S Cano Limon-Covenas crude pipeline was again sabotaged by a dynamite blast Aug. 23, causing a 19,000 bbl spill into the Catatumbo River. The line resumed pumping at its 230,000 b/d capacity 2 days later. The pipeline, which moves crude from giant Cano Limon oil field in the Llanos basin to the marine terminal at Covenas, has been the target of frequent guerrilla attacks since construction began in the mid-1980s.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.