U.S. BRIEFS

PETROCHEMICALS

HOUSTON CHEMICAL SERVICES INC. let contract to Badger Co. Inc. for engineering services for a hazardous waste incinerator at its Pasadena, Tex., petrochemical complex with a permitted capacity of 230 MMBTU/hr. Estimated engineering and construction cost is $60 million. Construction is to be complete in first quarter 1993.

OLEFINS TERMINAL CORP., a joint venture of Diamond Shamrock Corp. and JLM Industries Inc., Stamford, Conn., broke ground Oct. 10 at a propylene export facility on Bayport Ship Channel in Houston (OGJ, Apr. 1, p. 46). It will be at Baytank (Houston) Inc.'s terminal, operated by Baytank under a long term contract, and is scheduled for completion in third quarter 1992. Design capacity is 600 metric tons/hr of polymer grade propylene.

COGENERATION

J. MAKOWSKI CO., Bay State Gas Co., Tenneco Gas, General Electric Co., and PG&E-Bechtel broke ground Oct. 11 for construction of the 240,000 kw Masspower natural gas fired cogeneration plant at Springfield, Mass. (OGJ, Sept. 2, p. 38).

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

KCS GROUP INC., Houston, 1 Windham, fourth well in Bay Springs field in Jasper County, Miss., flowed 924 b/d of oil and 1.4 MMcfd of gas through a 10/64 in. choke with 1,910 psi flowing tubing pressure from Jurassic Buckner at 15,032-035 ft. Total depth is 16,700 ft. The fifth well, 2 Troy Sims has been drilled, logged, and cased with completion expected in Buckner. The new well increases field production to about 3,200 b/d of oil and 5.1 MMcfd of gas.

CONLEY P. SMITH, Tipperary Corp., A.G. Andrikopoulos Resources Inc., Anderman/Smith Operating Co., and Mary Parish Land Co., all of Denver, acquired the Rocky Mountain assets of National Cooperative Refinery Association, including 159 wells in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, about 160,000 net undeveloped acres, and interest in a Wyoming gas processing plant. Current net production from is about 1,050 b/d of oil and 700 Mcfd of gas.

CONOCO INC. is selling its interest in certain producing leases in Texas and New Mexico. The offering includes operated and nonoperated onshore oil and gas leases, including nine individual leases and five leases to be sold in bid groups. Offers are due Nov. 15 and effective sale date is Dec. 1.

EXPLORATION

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE seeks oil company interest in leasing Chukchi Sea acreage off northwestern Alaska in mid-1994 and plans to prepare an environmental impact statement. Decisions on whether to hold the sale, No. 148, and what blocks to offer will be made later.

PIPELINES

PACIFIC PIPELINE SYSTEM INC., Ventura, Calif " filed an application with California Public Utilities Commission to build a 170 mile, 130,000 b/d common carrier crude pipeline along existing railroad rights of way from Gaviota, Calif., to Wilmington, Calif. (OGJ, Apr. 8, p. 26).

COLUMBIA GAS TRANSMISSION CORP. filed with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to lower its commodity sales rate this fail nearly 400 to $2.7547/Mcf due to the cancellation of high priced gas supply contracts. Columbia also filed to switch from the modified fixed variable method of rate design to the straight fixed variable method effective Apr. 1, 1992.

NORTHERN NATURAL GAS CO. asked FERC for approval to reduce the rates it charges for natural gas sales and transportation services by $2.7 million/year, marking its third rate cut since 1985. It requested the new rates be made effective Nov. 1. Northern has filed a settlement to restructure its services, and if the rate reduction is approved, Northern will file to establish rates under the new services settlement.

ONG TRANSMISSION CO., Tulsa, is replacing a 20 in. crossing over the Red River acquired from Lone Star Gas Go. with one capable of moving as much as 200 MMcfd of gas to the Lone Star system in Texas. Completion is scheduled for December. The company is also constructing an interconnection to Arkla Inc.'s transmission system in eastern Oklahoma. That line will have the capacity to move 100 MMcfd of gas into Arkansas.

RESEARCH

ERC approved Gas Research Institute's 1992 research and development program and related 5 year plan. FERC approved an obligations budget of $212.9 million and cash outlays of $200.3 million with a funding unit of 1.510/Mcf to support 1992 cooperative energy R&D activities (OGJ, June 17, p. 26). GRI's 1992 program will support a total of 218 R&D projects in gas operations, natural gas supply options, and end use.

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE let a $10.8 million contract to Texas A&M University, to establish a new oceanography research program focusing on the Gulf of Mexico. The program is one of a three part, $16.2 million federal initiative called Louisiana/Texas Physical Oceanography Program that will aid MMS in reducing environmental risks associated with oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY awarded a 1 year follow-up contract to ICF Resources Inc., Fairfax, Va., for technical and analytical support services to its Bartlesville, Okla., project office. The contract has a 6 month option to extend and could be worth $2.7 million. The Bartlesville office implements DOE's petroleum research program in the field and is being redesigned to focus on declining oil reserves and the increasing abandonment of U.S. oil resources.

COMPANIES

WAINOCO OIL CORP., Houston, completed acquisition of Frontier Holdings Inc. (OGJ, Sept. 23, Newsletter), which will be operated as a subsidiary. Wainoco also completed sale of its interests in the Athens gas field in Crawford County, Pa., to Lomak Petroleum Inc., Fort Worth (OGJ, Sept. 30, p. 46). It was the company's last interest in the Appalachian basin.

UNION CARBIDE CORP. plans to take a $60 million charge against 1991 earnings in third quarter to write down the fluid cracking catalyst business of Katalistiks, part of UOP Inc., a joint venture Carbide and Allied Signal formed in August 1988.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.