INDUSTRY BRIEFS

Refining

Greece's

Hellenic Aspropyrgos Refinery SA commissioned KBC Process Technology Ltd., Weybridge, U.K., to improve profits at its 120,000 b/d refinery at Aspropyrgos, Greece. KBC plans to use software tools, including process simulation and data reconciliation, to identify and quantify required changes to the refinery operations.

Drilling-production

Saga Petroleum AS,

Sandvika, Norway, disclosed test results for a step-out from Kristin discovery on Norwegian Sea Block 6406/2. Well 6404/2-3, drilled to vertical depth of 5,258 m in 396 m of water, flowed 31 MMcfd of gas and 5,300 b/d of condensate from its deepest pay zone and 26.5 MMcfd of gas and 6,000 b/d of condensate from a shallower pay through a 44/64-in. choke. Results strengthen expectations that Kristin will be commercial. In June, Saga will drill an appraisal well in the southeast part of Kristin.

American Exploration Co.

(Amex), Houston, said a fire was extinguished on a Gulf of Mexico well blowout (OGJ, Apr. 7, 1997, p. 40). Flow on the well had subsided "to a trickle," and an adjacent relief well was being drilled at presstime, the company said. Amex does not expect to be able to resume production until early 1998 from its three wells on East Cameron Block 328, incurring a loss of about 2,000 b/d oil and 7 MMcfd gas output that was slated to come on stream this month. Cause of the blowout is still unknown. Crews will need to remove a loose piece of casing from the well before it can be plugged and capped.

Norsk Hydro AS

will issue a letter of intent to Aker AS, Oslo, for two engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for a platform to develop Oseberg South satellite field. A $410 million contract is for a processing and quarters deck. A $45 million contract is for a steel jacket. The components are to be ready for tow-out by May 2000; production start-up is planned later that year. Oseberg South reserves are estimated at 53.5 million cu m of oil and 11 billion cu m of gas. The platform will have capacity to produce 94,000 b/d of oil. Oil will be exported by a 13-km pipeline to Oseberg field center, and gas will be reinjected.

Taurus Exploration Corp.,

a unit of Energen Corp., Birmingham, Ala., completed acquisition of San Juan basin producing assets from Burlington Resources Inc. Taurus paid a base price of $77.75 million for about 1,750 producing wells with proved reserves of about 225 bcf equivalent (bcfe). Taurus, which will operate about half the wells, plans to spend $18.5 million on future development. It expects output of 7 bcfe this year, expanding to 9 bcfe in 1998.

Murphy Oil Corp.

started production from the first two wells on West Cameron Block 631 field in the Gulf of Mexico, reported partner CNG Producing Co., New Orleans. Current output totals 110 MMcfd of natural gas and 1,400 b/d of condensate; deliverability should peak at 150 MMcfd of gas and 2,000 b/d of condensate. Additional delineation drilling is under way on the block, which is about 125 miles south of Cameron, La., in 325 ft of water. Interests are operator Murphy 60%, CNG 40%.

Apache Corp.,

Houston, Wadi El Rayan-5X appraisal well confirmed a new oil field on its Qarun concession in Egypt. The well flowed 1,764 b/d of 26° gravity oil through a 1-in. choke with 40 psi flowing tubing pressure. The well tapped 85 ft of net pay at 5,630-5,732 ft in Cretaceous Abu Roash G sandstone. Additional delineation drilling is planned, and a 366,000-acre development lease has been established to identify additional prospects.

Early output from the field, the farthest south in Egypt's western desert, is expected this summer. Oil will be shipped by truck. Operator Apache holds a 75% contract interest in the field; Seagull Energy Corp., Houston, holds the remaining 25%.

Esso Production Malaysia Inc.

expects average daily output from Lawit gas field to reach about 150 MMcfd under a $617 million, 17-well development project slated for completion by yearend. The field, about 240 km off Terengganu, Malaysia, could supply about a third of peninsular Malaysia's gas needs by 1999. Gas compression expansions are planned to boost Lawit deliverability to about 700 MMcfd. Gas will flow to existing onshore facilities at Kertih, then by pipeline to a nearby processing plant owned by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas.

Mobil Exploration & Producing Group

produced first oil from Wandoo B concrete gravity production and storage platform on Australia's North West Shelf. Output is expected to reach 40,000 b/d from the $500 million (Australian) project when as many as 10 wells come on stream later this year. Wandoo B is about 2.5 km from the original Wandoo A monopod structure, which has been producing about 11,000 b/d since 1993. Wandoo field, in 50 ft of water, has estimated reserves of 72 million bbl. Mobil holds a 60% interest; Mitsui & Co. and other Japanese firms hold the remainder.

Petrochemicals

Fina Inc.,

Dallas, will enter the U.S. impact copolymer market with a new 500 million lb/year polypropylene production line, slated to come on stream in third quarter 1998 at its La Porte, Tex., plant. The modified process technology for the new line combines Fina's technology for homopolymers with Montell's copolymer technology. Debottlenecking projects under way will add another 100 million lb/year of capacity at La Porte by yearend, bringing the plant's total capacity to 1.6 billion lb/year and Fina's total worldwide polypropylene capacity to 2.15 billion lb/year.

Chevron Chemical Co.

and Saudi Industrial Venture Capital Group began construction on a $650 million petrochemical complex at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia (OGJ, Oct. 7, 1996, p. 46). As now planned, a benzene plant will have 482,000 metric tons/year of capacity, and a cyclohexane plant will have a 220,000-ton/year capacity. Original plans called for 480,000 tons/year and 200,000 tons/year, respectively. Completion is set for mid-1999.

India and Oman

signed a joint venture agreement to build a $1.1 billion ammonia-urea complex at Sur, Oman, with capacity of 1.45 million metric tons/year of granulated urea and 300,000 tons/year of ammonia. Of total equity of $277 million, $69.25 million each will be paid by the two Indian partners, Rasthtriya Chemical & Fertilizers Co. and Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd., while the remaining $138.5 million will be paid by Oman Oil Co. The Indian partners will purchase all output for the next 20 years at prevailing market prices.

Exploration

Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc.

completed 1 Serpentina discovery about 2.5 miles northeast of the 1 Jade discovery well (OGJ, Dec. 30, 1996, p. 34) and about 5 miles northeast of the main Zafiro/Opalo field complex off Equatorial Guinea, reported partner United Meridian Corp. (UMC). The well flowed 6,155 b/d of oil from two intervals. The Atwood Eagle rig that drilled Serpentina is now drilling 1 Turquesa, a 10,000-ft exploratory well, which will test an ocean floor mound in the northeastern portion of Block B. Results are expected at the end of May.

Block interests are operator Mobil 75%, UMC 25%.

Fina Exploration Minh Hai BV,

a unit of PetroFina SA, Brussels, disclosed its fifth discovery off Viet Nam. Well 46-PT-1X on Block 46 flowed 2,507 b/d of 40° gravity oil from the lowest tested interval, 15.5 MMcfd of gas from an intermediate interval, and 16.2 MMcfd of gas from the upper interval. Operator Fina has a 75% interest in the block; Sodec Vietnam, a unit of Showa Shell, holds 25%. State-owned Petrovietnam has an option to acquire as much as a 15% interest once development begins.

Lasmo plc,

London, disclosed test results of Bhit-2 new pool wildcat on Kirthar block in western Sindh Province, Pakistan. Drilled to 2,067 m TD, the well cut 150 m of net gas pay in Cretaceous sandstone and flowed a total 17.7 MMcfd of gas from three pay zones at an average wellhead pressure of 310 psi. Testing was constrained by equipment limits, but the well could yield more than 60 MMcfd if completed for production. Lasmo intends to acquire seismic data on Kirthar this year, followed by appraisal drilling.

Elf Aquitaine SA's

Girassol 2A appraisal on Block 17 off Angola flowed at a cumulative rate of 18,000 b/d of oil from two reservoirs. Girassol was discovered in 4,265 ft of water in April 1996, and Elf estimates reserves at more than 1 billion bbl of oil. Elf is now drilling a deviated well, Girassol 2B, from the same location to appraise the find further.

Japan National Oil Corp.

(JNOC) completed an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan to explore for oil in the northwest corner of the Aral Sea and in Teresken less than 100 km inland from the Aral Sea block. JNOC will drill a wildcat on the Aral Sea block and conduct seismic surveys in Teresken. Based on initial results, partners Teikoku Oil Co., Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., and Indonesia Petroleum Ltd., which have development rights in both areas, will decide on how much to invest.

Syria's parliament

approved a contract between Damascus and units of Elf Aquitaine, Malaysia's Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. Bhd., and Japan's Sumitomo Development Co. Ltd. (OGJ, Feb. 10, 1997, p. 32). The contract covers a 425-sq mile concession in the Dier el-Zor area in northeastern Syria. It allows 7 years for exploration and 25 years for production. Operator Elf holds 40%; other partners hold 30% each.

Gulf Canada Resources Ltd.,

Calgary, signed an exploration deal with four Indian nations on a 4,800-acre reserve at Pigeon Lake, 30 miles southwest of Edmonton. Gulf will hold 75% of a joint operating company, and Native Power Canada Corp. will have 25%. The deal follows one Gulf signed with Indian tribes at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana (OGJ, Jan. 20, 1997, p. 75).

Pipelines

Russia's Sidanco

is assembling a group to build a natural gas pipeline from eastern Siberia's Irkutsk gas fields across Mongolia to China and, potentially, Japan. The line would originate near numerous undeveloped gas fields in the Irkutsk region, follow a railroad right-of-way to Ulaan Bataar and Zuunbayan, then continue to Beijing and Tienjin, China. It could ultimately extend across the Bohai Sea to Japan. Sidanco recently asked Mongolian authorities for permission to cross Mongolia with the line, said Galsan Enkhbold, chairman of Petroleum Authority of Mongolia. Capacity and project scope were not disclosed.

Coastal Corp.,

Houston, began construction to expand its Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) and Wyoming Interstate Co. Ltd. (WIC) pipeline systems.

Capacity on WIC, now 500 MMcfd, will expand by about 193 MMcfd through the addition of 31,000 hp of compression at four locations. WIC forms the central segment of the 800-mile Trailblazer pipeline system between southwestern Wyoming and central Nebraska. The CIG expansion will boost capacity on the Wind River lateral by 68 MMcfd through the addition of 10,000 hp of compression about 50 miles north of Rawlins. The lateral now moves 195 MMcfd from central Wyoming's Big Horn and Wind River basins to Rawlins.

Maritimes & Northeast Ltd. Partnership

signed precedent agreements to deliver as much as 45 MMcfd of natural gas to Irving Cos.' St. John, N.B., refinery and pulp and paper plants starting Nov. 1, 1999, and as much as another 40 MMcfd for cogeneration at the same sites. The deal with Irving, the third concern to sign a precedent agreement with the pipeline sponsors, prompted preliminary siting and other work to build a spur from the main line to St. John. The Canadian segment of the proposed 1,038-km Northeast & Maritimes pipeline is operated by Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver, B.C., the U.S. portion by PanEnergy Corp., Houston.

Pemex Gas y Petroquimica Basica

, a unit of Petroleos Mexicanos, let a $20 million contract to Willbros Group, Tulsa, to design and build a 45-mile, 24-in. gas pipeline joining El Paso Natural Gas Corp.'s system near El Paso to the Samalayuca I and II power plants in Chihuahua, Mexico (OGJ, June 17, 1996, Newsletter). The project is slated for completion in fourth quarter 1997.

Petroleum Authority of Thailand

(PTT) is studying the viability of extending Thailand's existing pipeline infrastructure into the economically isolated northeastern region. One proposed route would begin at Mab Ta Phut, Rayong, where PTT gas lines now come ashore from the Gulf of Thailand; another would start at Kaeng Khoi, Saraburi, in the central plains. PTT also is considering a parallel oil products pipeline and is expected to open projects to private participation. Unocal Corp., Thailand's largest gas producer, has expressed interest in a partnership with PTT on a gas pipeline.

Express Pipeline,

Calgary, began shipper service in the U.S., with oil deliveries to Platte Pipe Line in Casper, Wyo., 9 weeks after pipeline fill started (OGJ, Feb. 10, 1997, p. 34). The 785-mile, $585 million (Canadian) pipeline has 172,000-b/d capacity. Express Pipeline is a 50-50 joint venture of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. and TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.

Scurlock Permian Corp.,

Houston, started laying a 13-mile, 10-in. crude oil pipeline to connect its Johnson Bayou, La., terminal with its Sabine Pass, Tex., terminal. The pipeline and associated deepwater dock at Sabine Pass will be able to move 30,000 b/d. Completion is slated for May 1997. Scurlock is a unit of Ashland Petroleum Co.

Lubes

Esso (Tianjin) Co. Ltd.

and Esso (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd. let contract to Japan's Chiyoda Corp. to build two lube oil blending plants with 250,000 bbl/year capacity each in China. Work on a plant at Ningbo is expected to begin this month for completion in late 1998; groundbreaking already occurred for the plant at Tianjin, where work is slated to wrap up in mid-1998. Exxon expects China's lube oil demand to reach 3 million tons/year by 2000.