INDUSTRY BRIEFS

EXPLORATION

TWENTY-TWO OPERATORS chose the Geco-Prakla unit of Schlumberger Oilfield Services group as the preferred seismic data acquisition contractor in the U.K. West of Shetland sector and let contracts for 3D surveys in the area to cover about 6,000 sq km in 1995. To gather the large volume of data within the 6 month season ending in September, Geco-Prakla is using two upgraded seismic vessels, each outfitted with two seismic sources and eight long streamers arranged in 700 m crossline towing configurations.

LNG

HAVTOR AS, Oslo, acquired the 28 vessel liquefied natural gas carrier fleet of Kvaerner AS, also of Oslo, in a $530 million deal, boosting Havtor's LNG carrier fleet to 45 vessels.

THE FIRST upgraded LNG train at Algeria's Arzew GL2.Z complex started up late last month, reported contractor M.W. Kellogg Co. That kept the complex revamp on target for completion by yearend. Revamp of the second of six LNG trains at Arzew is complete, and the unit is being precommissioned. The revamp is designed to boost GL2.Z capacity by 15% from 1 bcfd.

COMPANIES

INSURERS FILED SUIT for reimbursement of a $350 million payment they made related to the sinking of the Sleipner A platform in a Norwegian fjord in August 1991 against fabricator Aker AS, Oslo. Aker said there is no grounds for compensation or redress payments.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

NORSKE CONOCO AS postponed tow-out of its Heidrun platform by 25 days to June 26 because commissioning work is behind schedule. Den norske stats oljeselskap AS, scheduled to take over as operator from Conoco when production begins from the field off Norway, said production also will start later than the Aug. 1 target. Meanwhile, Statoil took delivery of the Hanne Knutsen shuttle tanker, the first of three ships scheduled to offload oil from Heidrun. Heidrun development involves use of the world's first concrete tension leg platform (OGJ, Aug. 15, 1994, p. 62).

STATOIL is running production tests of its 34/10-37 well, drilled by the Deepsea Bergen semi-submersible west of Gullfaks field off Norway. The well found light oil in middle Jurassic sands in 140 m of water. Statoil's initial estimate of reserves is 20 million bbl of oil, but drilling on a structure to the north later this year is expected to reveal a linked reservoir.

KUWAIT OIL CO. and BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. agreed to extend cooperation on increasing production from Kuwaiti oil fields. Under a 30 month program BP has been providing technical and management assistance in boosting output from fields in western Kuwait. The new agreement will extend the work program to fields in northern Kuwait, where requirements include subsurface modeling, water handling, and gas lift.

MOBIL NORTH SEA LTD. disclosed test results from a two well appraisal of its U.K. North Sea Block 29/2c Kyle discovery. The 29/2c-11z well flowed 3,300 b/d of oil and 2.8 MMcfd of gas through a 1 in. choke from a fractured chalk reservoir. The 29/2c-11y well, a sidetrack of the earlier well into Paleocene sands, flowed at a stabilized rate of 4,500 b/d of oil and 2.9 MMcfd of gas through a 48/64 in. choke.

GREENHILL PETROLEUM CORP., Houston, a unit of Australia's Western Mining Corp. Holdings Ltd., plans a 3D seismic survey in redeveloping Grand Bay field about 60 miles southeast of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, La. That's where Greenhill's first horizontal well, 183 G.P.L.D. A, is producing 1,175 b/d of oil and 869 Mcfd of gas from a 980 ft lateral in middle Miocene at 7,400 ft TVD. Operator Greenhill holds a 79% interest in the well, William G. Helis estate 21%.

BP EXPLORATION OPERATING CO. LTD. will install the U.K.'s first water/alternating/gas (WAG) injection system to boost oil recovery from its North Sea Miller oil and gas field. The $33 million project is designed to recover an additional 6.7 million bbl of oil equivalent and extend field life by about 2 years to beyond 2000. BP and Wood Group Engineering Ltd., Aberdeen, will install an 80 MMcfd compressor and pipework on Miller platform beginning in October. Six wells will be converted, four to WAG injection and two to gas lift. Injection is to begin early in 1997, with gas injection volumes pegged at an average 60 MMcfd.

ENRON OIL & GAS INDIA LTD. let contract to Enercon Engineering Inc., Houston, for detailed engineering and procurement services for production facilities in 154 ft of water in Panna field in Bombay High area off India. Included are an eight pile central production platform with capacity of 50,000 b/d of oil, 180 MMcfd of gas, and 65,000 b/d of produced water, three unmanned satellite drilling-production platforms, a quarters platform, a flare platform, and 22 subsea pipelines. Under a separate contract with Enron, a unit of Petroleum Geo-Services AS is mobilizing two seismic vessels to acquire 1,300 sq km of 3D seismic data in the area.

SHELL U.K. EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION, through IHC Caland subsidiary Single Buoy Moorings Inc., hired Stork Protech, Schiedam, Netherlands, for design, procurement, construction, and installation of process facilities on a floating oil production, storage, and transfer system for prospective marginal field developments in the U.K. North Sea. Process facilities will consist of complete equipment for oil/gas/water separation, oil stabilization, gas compression, water treatment, and water injection.

EQUITY OIL CO., Salt Lake City, arranged a $20 million borrowing base revolving credit facility with Midland Bank plc's New York branch. Proceeds are to fund acquisition of oil and gas reserves.

BASIC PETROLEUM INTERNATIONAL LTD., Paris, boosted its oil production in Guatemala to more than 10,000 b/d, achieving a 7 day average Mar. 21 of 9,934 b/d. Current production breaks out as about 8,200 b/d from Xan field and 1,800 b/d from all other fields Basic operates in Guatemala. OGJ estimated Guatemala's total oil production in 1994 at 7,500 b/d (OGJ, Dec. 26, 1994, p. 35). Basic's pipeline from Xan to its 4,000 b/d La Libertad asphalt refinery is two thirds complete (OGJ, June 13, 1994, p. 46).

TERMINALS

BLUE DOLPHIN ENERGY CO., Houston, acquired Petroport LC, including proprietary technology and related patents on development and operation of a deepwater oil and products port and storage facility, and merged the assets into Petroport Inc., a new Blue Dolphin unit. Projected to begin operation in 1998 off Texas in the western Gulf of Mexico, the $500 million Petroport is expected to allow imports of oil and refined products faster and at less cost than other deepwater ports, existing or proposed, sponsors claim.

MARKETING

OMV GROUP, Vienna, acquired Total's gasoline station network in Austria. Involved are 59 service stations representing 2% of Austria's retail market. Total also will sell a 70% interest in Total Austria to OMV, and under OMV's control the unit's name will be changed to OMV Tankstallen AG. OMV said the deal is in line with its plan to expand domestic marketing.

TANKERS

HIBERNIA MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT CO. is negotiating with non-Canadian shipyards to build two 120,000 dwt, double hull, double bottom, ice strengthened tankers for use in the $8.5 billion (Canadian) Hibernia oil field development off Newfoundland. One vessel will be purchased and the second placed under time charter, with an option for a third vessel.

PIPELINES

LEVIATHAN GAS PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP LP, Houston, plans to begin laying the Poseidon sour oil pipeline system in the Central Gulf of Mexico in July Area producers agreed to ship enough crude through the line to justify construction, Intended as a header system for oil produced mainly in the central gulf's flex trend and deepwater areas, Poseidon ultimately will consist of about 200 miles of 20 and 24 in. pipe with capacity of more than 400,000 b/d. The first segment of the system is to begin service by yearend.

TRANSTEXAS GAS CORP., Houston, began delivering gas from wells in Bob West and North Bob West fields in Zapata County, Tex., through a 5.3 mile, 12 in., 250 MMcfd gas gathering line tied in to the 18 in. South Texas intrastate pipeline of Gulf Energy Pipeline Co., a unit of Tejas Gas Corp., Houston.

SHELL U.K. EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION let a $19 million contract to Allseas Marine Contractors SA, Chatel-St. Denis, Switzerland, for pipeline work related to development of North Sea Schooner field. The contract covers engineering, procurement, fabrication, and laying of a 28 km, 16 in. gas pipeline from an unmanned platform to be installed in Schooner field to the existing Murdoch platform. Schooner gas production is to begin in late 1996.

CANADA'S National Energy Board approved a negotiated settlement on pipeline tolls between Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc., Calgary, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The agreement, first of its kind in Canada, approves a new formula for setting oil pipeline tolls for 1995-99 (OGJ, Mar. 6, p. 39). NEB agreed to resolve disputes that may arise under the accord.

MOBIL OIL CANADA'S South Saskatchewan Pipe Line Co. shut down its main line that transports crude oil from Rapdan, near the U.S.-Canadian border, to Regina, Sask. The line ruptured and spilled oil about 8.5 km southwest of Herbert, Sask. About 600 bbl of spilled crude was contained within a 1 acre area near the line, and repairs to replace the damaged section were to be complete Mar. 25. Cause of the rupture is under investigation.

SEVERE WEATHER on the U.S. Lower 48 West Coast and in the Gulf of Alaska forced Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to cut throughput on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System from the normal 1.65 million b/d for several days last month. Flow was held to 1.2 million b/d for about 36 hr before rising to 1.4 million b/d for several days, pending improvement in the weather

ABU DHABI NATIONAL OIL CO., through Serck Controls, Coventry, U.K., and a Saipem-Snamprogetti joint venture, hired LIConsult, Cleveland, U.K., to supply pipeline application software for the Bab-Maqra-Taweelah system in Abu Dhabi. The system consists of more than 15 lines of 1 032 in. running from Ruwais to Taweelah. The software entails a real time model for leak detection and location, an online predictive model, and an offline operator training facility. Delivery is set for summer.

LPG

BRITISH PETROLEUM CO. PLC and Korgaz, Po land's state owned liquefied petroleum gas company, agreed to form a venture to serve the growing LPG market in the Poznan area. BP plans to invest $10 million in the new company.

REFINING

MOBIL OIL CORP. won approval from Australia's Environmental Protection Agency to build a $150 million, 23,000 b/sd fluid catalytic cracker at its 108,000 b/d Altona refinery near Melbourne. The unit is to go on stream by yearend 1996.

ELF OIL U.K. LTD. let contract to Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd., Reading, U.K., to study work requirements on the fluid catalytic cracking unit at its Milford Haven refinery in Wales. Foster Wheeler said the study will form the basis of the refinery's long term investment program and cover revamping fractionation and vapor recovery units, along with consideration of other processes to meet future gasoline specifications.

PURALUBE INC., Philadelphia, will license UOP's HyLube process for rerefining used lubricating oil in plants Puralube builds. Puralube plans to form a world network of moderate-size rerefineries. Its first plant will be built on the U.S. East Coast, probably in the Delaware Valley. Start-up of the 16 million gal/year facility is scheduled for early 1997.

CATALYTIC DISTILLATION TECHNOLOGIES (CDTech) will license Mobil Oil Corp.'s process for producing di-isopropyl ether, a gasoline blending component and oxygenate. The process, not yet commercialized, uses refinery propylene as feedstock.

CROWN CENTRAL PETROLEUM CORP. purchased from Petrolite Corp.'s Petreco division a single stage Bilectric desalter for its 100,000 b/d Houston refinery. Start-up is expected by yearend.

PETROCHEMICALS

CRITERION CATALYST CO. LP,

Houston, started up its styrene catalyst plant in Pittsburg, Calif., following a modernization project. The iron oxide based catalyst is produced in conjunction with Criterion's other catalyst units at the site.

DEBOTTLENECKING PROJECTS include a 60,000 ton/year furnace at BASF's Antwerp cracker, not the Borealis cracker at Porvoo as reported (OGJ, Mar. 27, Newsletter). Keiyo Ethylene brought on stream a 600,000 ton/year plant at Chiba, Japan, not a 377,000 ton/year unit. Prices quoted were for polyethylene, not ethylene.

RESEARCH

THREE EUROPEAN ENTITIES created the European Research Institute on Geoenergies (ERIG), whose mission is to promote and develop frontier research and development in fossil fuels with an emphasis on environmental aspects. Participants are France's IFP, Germany's KFA, and Italy's ENI.