INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

REFINING

SAUDI ARABIA'S 530,000 b/d Ras Tanura refinery, a key supplier to U.S. led international armed forces in the Persian Gulf, resumed operations Dec. 29 after being shut down for more than 2 weeks for fire damage repairs (OGJ, Dec. 10, 1990, p. 30). A Nov. 30 fire extensively damaged two kerosine/diesel fractionating columns operations, slashing products output to 250,000 b/d from 500,000 b/d. Production at presstime was about 300,000 b/d, with no timetable set for when the rest of the refinery will go back on stream.

TANKERS

FINLAND'S NESTE OY ordered two 91,000 dwt, double bottom/double hull crude/products tankers from the Masa Group of Finland under a contract worth $195 million. The order reflects the company's requirement to import better quality crudes to meet new fuel oil standards and to replace declining volumes of Soviet oil imported by pipeline. The new vessels, designed to run with a crew of only 14, will trade between Finland and North Sea terminals.

COMPANIES

AMOCO CANADA LTD. plans a 1991 capital and exploration budget of $450 million (Canadian), up $35 million from 1989. It plans to spend about $235 million on development drilling and production facilities and $100 million on exploration.

CANADA NORTHWEST ENERGY LTD., Calgary, has been told by Royal Bank of Canada it must cut its debt by $38 million (Canadian) by the end of February. The company said it is confident it can resolve the debt problem by the deadline without resorting to default. It has the option of paying the debt with cash or increasing its asset base with additional oil and gas reserves in Europe and Southeast Asia.

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. will cuts its work force by about 3,000 persons, 500-1,000 more than originally expected, to about 12,000. Imperial completed a $5 billion takeover of Texaco Canada Inc. in 1989. Prior to that it had 1 2,1 61 employees, and Texaco had a payroll of 3,354. Imperial has offered incentive programs for employees to quit or take early retirement.

NORSK HYDRO AS plans to sell an 11 .8% interest in Ranger Oil Ltd., Calgary, for $90 million (Canadian). Norsk Hydro acquired 10 million Ranger common shares in 1989 for $72.5 million. Ranger has an option of repurchasing the shares or finding another buyer within 15 stock trading days after which Norsk is free to sell its holdings. Ranger's other major shareholder is Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, which has a 12.1% interest. Ranger, with substantial U.K. North Sea producing interests, is unaware of any pending takeover attempt.

EXPLORATION

INDIA will offer about 70 blocks in the fourth round of bidding for oil and gas concessions scheduled for sometime in 1991. Terms, which were to be final late last month, are expected to be liberalized to attract foreign operators.

CRESCENT PETROLEUM (YEMEN) INC. and Clyde Petroleum plc signed a production sharing contract for Block 2 in the Shabwa area of Yemen. The 3,950 sq km tract is in the southeastern Shabwa basin, where Yemen Hunt Oil Co. and Soviet contractors have made significant discoveries.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

MISSION ENERGY CO. and Texaco Canada Petroleum Inc. 50-50 agreed to acquire producing properties in British Columbia from Esso Resources Canada Ltd. for $100 million. Involved are gas and liquids reserves estimated at more than 200 bcf proved, 100 bcf probable, 4 million bbl proved, and 2 million bbl probable. Separately, TexCan will acquire for $6 million 21 Esso leases covering 74,000 net undeveloped acres and an option to drill four more prospects and earn rights in a further 19,000 net acres in British Columbia.

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Gas Commission plans to develop an oil discovery off Bombay. Its 1-Rl5-A discovery, drilled in 131 ft of water, flowed 1,631 b/d of oil through a 1/2 in. choke. The 20 sq km structure is near Heera field, where production facilities are in place. Plans call for early development to place the field on stream at 15,000-20,000 b/d by 1992.

OIL INDIA LTD., in a report to India's Petroleum Ministry, said many wells in the Bombay High offshore area will have to be shut in for remedial work the next 5 years because they have been overproduced. Production losses from the shutins are expected to average 50,000 b/d/year.

LAGOVEN SA plans a three well pilot in Cerro Negro field in Venezuela's Orinoco belt to test the electromagnetic oil recovery process developed by ORS Corp., Tulsa. The pilot is in line with Lagoven's efforts to increase production of Orimulsion, a fuel oil substitute that is an emulsion of extra heavy crude, water, and a surfactant. ORS recently completed project engineering design.

LASMO NOVA SCOTIA LTD. let contracts worth about $4 million (Canadian) for the Cohasset/Panuke oil field development project off Nova Scotia. The biggest is a $2.2 million contract to Mulgrave Machine Works Ltd. to assemble and outfit gas/water/ condensate separation equipment to be installed on a jack up converted to production service.

GOVERNMENT

INDIA'S GOVERNMENT hiked the royalty on crude oil payable to Assam and Gujarat states to $2.88/bbl] retroactive to March 1987. The royalty last was raised in April 1984 to $1.78/bbl from 550/bbl. An ad hoc increase in January 1990 took the royalty rate to $2.67/bbl, so the net increase works out to about 20.50/bbl. Assam, scene of recent civil unrest, and Gujarat have demanded a much higher royalty,

PIPELINES

BRITISH GAS PLC agreed to supply 200 MMcfd of gas for 15 years to a 300,000 kw combined cycle gas power plant at Peterborough, England. Plant start-up is scheduled for 1993. Hawker Siddeley Power Engineering Ltd. will build the plant, and Eastern Electricity plc will buy its power.

NOVA CORP. OF ALBERTA let a $30 million (Canadian) contract to Majestic Contractors Ltd.'s Majestic Pipeliners unit for work on its natural gas pipeline system. The project involves three loops totaling 88.7 km in the Grand Prairie area north of Edmonton. Construction was to begin late last month and be complete by the end of March.

PETROCHEMICALS

TOTAL PETROCHEMICALS SDN. BHD. will use Stone & Webster Engineering Corp.'s advanced recovery system and selective cracking pyrolysis technology to produce about 230,000 metric tons/year of ethylene and 115,000 tons/year of propylene from naphtha and LPG in a plant to be built at Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahry, Malaysia. It is to start up by 1993.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.