REFINING
IRAQ'S rebuilt and expanded Al-Doura refinery near Baghdad is processing 100,000 b/d of crude and producing 150,000 metric tons/year of lubricants through three units, The plant was damaged during the Persian Gulf war and rebuilt under a three stage reconstruction program.
PETROCHEMIE UND KRAFTSTOFFE AG (PCK) let contract to MAN Gutehoffnungshutte AG's compressor and turbine division, Oberhausen, Germany, for maintenance of core equipment at PCK's 230,000 b/cd Schwedt, Germany, refinery. Contract term is for at least 4 years.
RUSSIAN oil production company Kogalymneftegas supplied funding to Ventech Engineers Inc., Pasadena. Tex., to build a modular catalytic reformer and distillate hydrotreater. The units, worth a combined $20 million, are to be shipped in first quarter 1995 to Kogalym in western Siberia's Tyumen region.
INDIAN REFINING LP let contract to Pritchard Corp. for engineering, procurement, and construction of a two phase instrumentation project at its 54,000 b/d Lawrenceville, Ill., refinery. Phase 1 , including a distributed control system, upgrade of field instrumentation, and modifications to the central control room, is expected to be complete early in 1995. Work on both phases will be finished in 3 years.
ULTRAMAR CORP., Greenwich. Conn., let a $60 million contract to Fluor Daniel Inc. to provide engineering and procurement services for a gas oil hydrotreater at its 68,000 b/cd Wilmington, Calif., refinery. The unit makes up the third phase of Ultramar's clean fuels program there. Work is to be finished in 1995.
PROCATALYSE started up two catalyst production units at parent Rhone-Poulenc's plant in Salindres, France. The 60 million franc ($10.6 million U.S.) project, including two extrusion and reforming production units, triples the company's capacity for refining catalyst carriers and almost triples capacity for reforming catalysts.
JAPAN'S Catalysts & Chemicals Industries Co. plans to build a $38 million residual oil cracking plant in Indonesia, reports Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Tokyo. The plant is expected to be built next to a Pertamina refinery under construction at Balongan, West Java. The new plant is scheduled to start up late in 1995 with 15,000 metric ton/year capacity.
ASSOCIATIONS
NATURAL GAS COUNCIL, Washington, reports U.S. industry participants developing the Gas Industry Standards Board completed their work, reaching agreement on form and operating principles. Once formed, the board will develop voluntary standards governing electronic communications for business transactions in the gas industry. The council served as the board's sponsor during its formation.
DRILLING-PRODUCTION
UNOCAL CORP. started production from Fresh Water Bayou field in Vermilion Parish, La., with its C-16 Louisiana Furs discovery, which flowed 26 MMcfd of gas and 180 b/d of condensate. Flow is to reach 30 MMcfd soon. Unocal's C-17 Louisiana Furs, northeast of the discovery, is scheduled for completion early in September.
BETA WELL SERVICE INC., Calgary, completed its acquisition of the interests of Quest Petroleum Exploration GmbH in the Komiquest joint venture and of Quest Exploration Kazakhstan GmbH in the ZhetybayQuest JV, both in the C.I.S. The JVs will apply western technology to Komi and Kazakhstan oil field operations.
MCFARLAND ENERGY INC., Santa Fe Springs, Calif., closed its acquisition of Star Fee section 26 acreage in Midway Sunset field of Kern County, Calif. McFarland paid $7 million cash and a 7 year, $4 million production payment for the acreage.
BURLINGTON RESOURCES INC., Houston, paid a combined $375 million for Maxus Energy Corp.'s 87.1% interest in Diamond Shamrock Offshore Partners LP plus an additional offshore lease and one onshore lease. The purchases cover 375 bcf equivalent of natural gas.
MARATHON OIL CO. 30%, McDermott International Inc. and Shell Gas By 20% each, Mitsui & Co. 20%, and Mitsubishi Corp. 10% formed Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., Bermuda, to develop oil and gas off Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East.
CANADIAN OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM LTD. acquired a 90% working interest in Egypt's 7,000 acre Magawish block in the Gulf of Suez. Canoxy will serve as operator of the block and expects to start development drilling during fourth quarter, with production scheduled to start early in 1995.
MCN CORP. unit MCN Investment Corp., Detroit, agreed to acquire an interest in leases with 550 oil and gas wells, mostly in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. These leases, along with a gas reserves acquisition in February, represent an investment of $100 million for a combined 70 bcf of proved reserves and 35 bcf of potential reserves, including 9 bcf of equivalent oil reserves.
WRT ENERGY CORP., The Woodlands, Tex., agreed to sell Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York interests in undisclosed oil and gas leases, Morgan Guaranty's investment is expected to reach $20 million. Closing is expected by June 30.
INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM CORP., Vancouver, B.C., started production Apr. 14 from Bukha field off Oman at a rate of 4,000 b/d of condensate from 2 Bukha. A 35 km, 16 in. line ties the field platform to the RAK gas processing, storage, and export site in Ras Al-Khaimah, U.A.E. The 1 Bukha is scheduled to start producing later this month after repairs to a flow line are complete.
NUEVO ENERGY CO., Houston, closed on a $30 million nonrecourse production payment loan with Banque Paribas to fund development drilling in Oak Hill gas field of East Texas.
OFFSHORE HYUNDAI INTERNATIONAL LTD. will use its OHI-5000 crane vessel to install a 3.000 ton, four pile, A wellhead platform jacket for ARCO China Inc.'s Yacheng 13-1 gas field development project in the South China Sea. The vessel also will install the 2.400 ton deck and drilling equipment packages for the platform.
HAMILTON OIL CO. LTD., London, plans to decommission platforms in Esmond and Gordon gas fields in the U.K. southern North Sea in 1995-96. This follows dismantling of Forbes gas field production facilities last year, which was part of the Esmond complex. Hamilton plans to offer the four platforms of the complex for sale as a unit.
ONEOK DRILLING CO., Tulsa, agreed to a sale to Trend Drilling Go., Enid, Okla. Assets include 12 drilling rigs rated to 25,000 ft and a yard and shop in El Reno, Okla.
SANTA FE ENERGY RESOURCES INC., Houston, plans 1994 capital spending of $130 million, including outlays to drill more than 100 development wells in the Permian basin. Its 1994-95 plans include drilling as many as 25 development wells and 12-14 wildcat wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Outside the U.S., focus will be on its Sierra Chata gas discovery in Argentina and oil development projects on Indonesia's Salawati island.
SPILLS
CLEANUP continues in the Gulf of Oman off Fujairah stemming from a Mar. 30 oil spill (OGJ, Apr. 11, p. 107) in which about 10% of an estimated 15,900 metric tons of Iranian light crude has been recovered. Income losses for local fishermen, who have been banned by the Fujairah government from going to sea temporarily, reached an estimated $1.36 million. Several thousand tons of crude remain floating offshore, officials said.
GAS PROCESSING
CORNERSTONE NATURAL GAS INC., Dallas, started up a cryogenic gas processing plant at its North Louisiana Dubach site. It processes 40 MMcfd with equipment that consists mainly of two cryogenic units moved from the company's Bear Wallow site in South Texas and additional gas compressors.
AN EXPLOSION AND FIRE at Gulf Coast Fractionators' Mont Belvieu, Tex., 80,000 b/d gas liquids fractionation plant Apr. 20 injured two persons. The plant, which has been shut down; is operated by Trident NGL Inc., The Woodlands, Tex. An investigation into the cause of the explosion is under way.
EXPLORATION
ENTERPRISE OIL PLC, London, 1 Angkor wildcat on Block II off Cambodia flowed 4.7 MMcfd of gas and 180 b/d of condensate from one of four zones. The well was drilled by the Canmar Explorer III drillship 170 km southwest of Sihanoukville.
ESSO EGYPT LTD. discovered oil on its Southwest Hurghada concession in Egypt's eastern desert, cutting a 50 ft oil zone on its 480 sq km permit. Tests of SW 1 Hurghada showed that 1,030 b/d of 30 gravity oil could be produced. Tasmania's Coplex Resources NL of Hobart holds a 15% interest in the West Esh El Malhalla concession 3 km south of the Esso block.
TOREADOR ROYALTY CORP., Dallas, acquired an oil and gas lease on the 95,000 acre Fulton Ranch in Oldham County of the Texas Panhandle. The company said this makes it the largest holder of undeveloped leases in the Southern Dalhart basin.
COMPANIES
PATRICK PETROLEUM CO., Jackson, Mich., authorized investment banker Petrie Parkman & Co. Inc. to design and implement a plan to sell Patrick's oil and gas assets or merge with another company.
NORCEN ENERGY RESOURCES LTD., Calgary, plans to sell $100 million (Canadian) in mining and other assets to reduce debt and focus on its petroleum operations. It recently sold five cogeneration plants in the U.S. for $68 million and is marketing interests in Canada in lead and zinc mining and an iron ore company.
PENNZOIL CO. unit Pennzoil Canada Inc. agreed to purchase Co-enerco Resources Ltd., Calgary, for $310 million (Canadian), or about $225 million (U.S.).
TERMINALS
THE UKRAINIAN government is building a $28 million, 80.000 b/d crude oil terminal at Yuzhny, Ukraine. near Odessa on the Black Sea. It let design and construction contracts to JP Kenny Ltd., London, and Single Buoy Moorings Inc., Marly, Switzerland. Phase 1 will be finished this year with installation of a single point mooring buoy 4 km offshore, a 42 in. subsea pipeline, and an onshore tank farm to receive crude oil. In Phase 2, to be finished next year, more pipelines will be laid to connect a pump platform 25 km offshore at a cost of $130 million.
GAS STORAGE
JAPAN'S Ministry of International Trade & Industry is studying the feasibility of storing natural gas in existing fields. Tokyo's Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the study is evaluating a combined 10 sites in Niigata, Akita, and Hokkaido provinces, with site selection possible in 1997. Fields under study are expected to hold a 120 day supply.
PETROCHEMICALS
TEXACO INC. received $850 million from Huntsman Corp., a unit of Jon M. Huntsman Group of Cos., for Texaco Chemical Co. and most of Texaco's worldwide chemical operations, excluding its lubricant additives business. If a third party sale of the lube additives segment fails to occur, Huntsman Financial Corp. will acquire it by Sept. 30 for an undisclosed price.
UNION CARBIDE CORP., Danbury, Conn., let an engineering contract to Bechtel Corp. and construction contract to Fluor Daniel Inc. for an oxo-alcohols plant to be built at Taft, La. The 300 million lb/year butanol unit is to start up early in 1996, increasing the company's oxo-alcohols capacity to 1.3 billion lb/year.
PIPELINES
ALYESKA PIPELINE SERVICE CO. let a $15 million contract to Ralph M. Parsons Co., Pasadena, Calif., to upgrade design drawings for Alyeska's 800 mile trans-Alaska crude pipeline. Work is scheduled for completion early in 1995.
ALGERIA will move 2,5 billion cu m/year of gas to Portugal via the Maghreb-Europe pipeline under a contract signed Apr. 16. Middle East Economic Survey said Algeria's Sonatrach and Portugal's Transgaz group agreed that deliveries under a 25 year contract will begin in third quarter 1996 through a 460 km line to Setubal, Portugal, from Cordova, Spain, the first phase of which will cost $470 million.
CANADA'S Nova Corp. International offered to buy 20% shares in two Pakistani gas companies, reports China's Xinhua News Agency. The two are Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd., Lahore, and Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd., Karachi.
BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO. LTD. agreed to transport liquids from U.K. North Sea Birch and Armada fields through its Forties pipeline system. Lasmo plc expects to start Block 16/12a Birch field production at yearend 1995. British Gas plc expects to start production from the Armada group of fields in Quadrants 16 and 22 in October 1997.
