INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

GOVERNMENT

THAILAND AND MALAYSIA signed a draft agreement covering joint oil and gas exploration and development of overlapping territorial claims in the Gulf of Thailand. The agreement, to be ratified by parliaments in both countries, calls for production from the area to be shared equally based on a modified production sharing system drafted from the Thai concession system and the Malaysian production sharing contract.

DRILLING-PRODUCTION

TUSKAR RESOURCES PLC, Esher, England, expects a declaration of commerciality for its Rubiales oil field in Colombia this summer or fall. Tuskar will spud two more wells soon in the field. The company believes proved and probable reserves will top 350 million bbl.

AMOCO (U.K.) EXPLORATION CO. started flow from Arbroath oil field in the U.K. North Sea. Production is to build quickly to 35,000 b/d (OGJ, Jan. 18, 1988, p. 65). Interests are Amoco 30.77%, Enterprise Oil plc 41.02%, Amerada Hess Ltd. 23.08%, and North Sea Inc. 5.13%.

ENIM OIL CO. LTD, a unit of Pan Pacific Inc., San Francisco, expects first oil sales in October from the Tupai and Harimu oil discoveries (OGJ, Jan. 22, p. 31) on Lematang block, onshore South Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 40 wells will be needed for full development. The 7,325 ft Tupai well flowed 592 b/d of 32 gravity oil.

EAST MIDLANDS OIL & GAS, a unit of Blackland Oil plc, London, won approval for a $948,000 first phase development of the 900,000-2.5 million bbl Whisby oil field southwest of Lincoln, England. Flow of 300400 b/d was to begin in late April. Three later phases could boost total investment to $4.18 million. Field interests are East Midland 58%, British Gas plc 25%, and Edinburgh Oil & Gas plc 17%.

KALA NAFT CO. LTD., Calgary, a purchasing agent for Iran, hired Red Flame Oil Well Fire Fighters, Red Deer, Alta., to kill three blowouts in Iran. Red Flame is assembling about $3 million of equipment to deal with the worst blowout, which is spewing sour gas and about 15,000 b/d of oil.

SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT CO. OF NIGERIA LTD. hired Noble Bawden Drilling (West Africa) Ltd. to place into a service a jack up and posted barge in Nigeria. Noble will refurbish and move the rigs from the Gulf of Mexico to Nigeria by late September. A contract on each rig covers a 2 year term with annual extension options. Shell Nigeria also signed a letter of intent for Noble to move to Nigeria early in the fourth quarter a posted barge working in the Gulf of Mexico.

COMPANIES

STE. NATIONALE ELF AQUITAINE agreed to acquire all of BP France's upstream assets effective July 1, subject to government approval. Included are 19 exploration and eight production permits in the Paris basin and one production and nine exploration permits in the Aquitaine area. Terms aren't disclosed.

REPSOL SA wants to buy the 51% interest Banco Pastor SA holds in Gas Madrid SA to add to its 30% interest and thus block a takeover of Spain's second biggest gas distribution company by foreign interests. Italgas SpA and British Gas plc reportedly are interested in taking over Madrid Gas.

PIPELINES

CIA. ARRENDATARIA DEL MONOPOLIO DE PETROLEOS SA is laying a 134 mile, 8-12 in. oil products pipeline from Tarragona to Barcelona and Gerona in Northeast Spain. Completion is set for second half 1990.

PETROCHEMICALS

SHOWA DENKO KK will build a 60,000 metric ton/year Unipol process polyethylene plant at Oita, Kyushu, Japan. The grassroots plant, to be completed in third quarter 1991, will produce Showa's first slate of linear low density polyethylene as well as high density polyethylene (HDPE). Showa will share its HDPE technology with Unipol licensor Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Inc., and Carbide took an option on a license to use Showa's polyethylene catalyst in the Unipol process.

ERCROS SA affiliate Empresa Nacional de Fertilizantes SA completed a revamp of its ammonia plants at Puertollano in Central Spain and Cartagena on Spain's Mediterranean coast. Capacities are 880 tons/day at Cartagena and 600 tons/day at Puertollano. Uhde GmbH provided technology for the revamp by Empresa Nacional de Ingeniera y Tecnologia SA.

TANKERS

SHELL INTERNATIONAL MARINE purchased four tankers, built in 1972-77, from the estate of Christina Onassis and the Onassis group of companies for an undisclosed sum. The vessels, the 265,000 dwt Olympic Banner, 265,000 dwt Olympic Brilliance, 270,000 dwt Aristotole S. Onassis, and 273,000 dwt Alexander S. Onassis, have been operated by Olympic Maritime SA.

EXPLORATION

BARRACK ENERGY LTD., Perth, 1 Beharra Springs flowed 8.5 MMcfd of gas through a 1/2 in. choke with 1,400 psi surface pressure from a 16 ft Permian Carynginia limestone interval at 10,816-833 ft. Barrack is drilling ahead to gauge pay thickness. The strike is 2 km from the Dongara field-Perth pipeline, currently operating at 15% of capacity. Estimate of potential reserves is 120 bcf and development costs $8-10 million (Australian).

INDIA'S Oil & Natural Commission opened Mori field in Krishna Godavari basin in Andhra Pradesh. The discovery well, drilled to 10,515 ft, flowed 595 b/d of oil and 3.25 MMcfd of gas. ONGC pegs the field's reserves at about 22 million bbl of oil equivalent.

REFINING

INDIAN OIL CORP. in fiscal 1989-90 topped its refining goal for the sixth straight year, exceeding the previous record of 440,000 b/d in fiscal 1988-89. Its refineries at Guwahati, Barauni, Gujarat, Haldia, Mathura, and Digboi processed an average 470,000 b/d for the period. IOC also surpassed targets for total distillates yield and LPG bottling.

MOBIL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORP. agreed to share its zeolite catalyst based lube base oil dewaxing process with Texaco Development Corp. Texaco can offer the Mobil process to refiners that license other process technology from Texaco. Mobil will continue to license the technology to other refiners.

IMPORTS-EXPORTS

JAPAN'S crude oil imports in fiscal 1989 topped 6 million b/d for the first time in 5 years. Japanese oil imports climbed 5.6% to 6.4 million b/d for fiscal 1989 from the year before and in March rose 3.8% from a year earlier to about 7 million b/d.

CHINA exported its first shipment of naphtha this month, a 4,500 ton cargo of light naphtha Yanqzi Petrochemical Co. sent to Japan for fertilizer feedstock.