The Oil and Gas Journal articles from April 1999

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from April 1999

PACE REFERING MARGINS.
April 5, 1999... PACE REFINING MARGINS Jan. Feb. Mar. Mar. % 1999 1999 1999 1998 Change Change $/bbl U.S. Gulf Coast West Texas Sour ...

U.S. NATURAL GAS BALANCE DEMAND/SUPPLY SCOREBOARD.
April 5, 1999... U.S. NATURAL GAS BALANCE DEMAND/SUPPLY SCOREBOARD Dec. Total YTD Dec. Nov. Dec. change YTD change 1998 1998...

Newsletter.
April 5, 1999... Topping oil industry news is the planned merger of BP Amoco and ARCO (see story, p. 38). The deal to create the world's second-largest oil company comes only 3 months after completion of the BP-Amoco merger. In other merger news, the...

U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 4/5.
April 5, 1999... U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 4/5 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date Latest week 3/26 average year ago [*] change average [*] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline ...

Stats delivery.(Editorial)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Oil & Gas Journal provides an extensive array of industry statistics. Some weekly and monthly statistics appear regularly in the OGJ statistics pages. There are annual surveys of industry capacity and activity throughout the year. This week,...

The MTBE bomb.(methyl tertiary butyl ether)
April 5, 1999... Urgent message from U.S. refiners to state and federal governments: If you drop bombs in the area of fuel chemistry, pick good targets. California Gov. Gray Davis dropped a bomb Mar. 25 when he ordered phased removal of methyl tertiary...

Iran's bid to lure oil investment succeeding despite U.S. sanctions.
April 5, 1999... Iran continues to mark success with Kits efforts to attract foreign investment to its petroleum sector, despite the continuing specter of U.S. economic sanctions targeting such investments. An apparent backdown by the U.S. government on...

Peru schedules a new Camisea project tender for 1999 i.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Peru will call an international tender this year to develop the world-class Camisea natural gas project, probably in the second half. Jorge Camet, former finance minister and currently president of the Camisea executive committee, on behalf...

Mobil finds more gas in SE Peru, near Camisea fields.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Mobil Exploration & Producing Peru Inc. continues to find more gas in southeastern Peru, bolstering prospects for the Camisea gas project that it once had co-sponsored. Although they withdrew from the Camisea project last year, Mobil and...

Geology's big issue.(identifying hydrocarbons in oil and gas reservoirs that look like dry structures)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Conferences offer a chance to learn about parts of the industry one does not normally encounter, and a chance to put questions to the experts. At the Offshore West Africa conference in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Mar. 23-25, came an opportunity...

A new No. 2: BP Amoco to merge with ARCO.
April 5, 1999... Supermajor BP Amoco plc, itself the freshly new product of a merger, has agreed to combine with ARCO in a $26.8 billion merger that would create the world's second-biggest petroleum company. The all-share transaction, approved by both...

California plans to ban MTBE from gasoline.
April 5, 1999... California Gov. Gray Davis has issued an executive order to ban the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether in gasoline sold in the state by Dec. 31, 2002. Davis has requested that the California Environmental Protection Agency implement the...

A Mar. 25 explosion and fire.(Chevron Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... A Mar. 25 explosion and fire in the hydrocracker at Chevron Corp.'s Richmond, Calif., refinery was isolated, and the fire was extinguished in only 2 hr, said Chevron. At presstime, the unit remained shut down, and the cause of the explosion was...

Uzbekistan's Uzbekneftigas.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Uzbekistan's Uzbekneftigas let contract to Mouchel Group Ltd., West Byfleet, U.K., to revamp its Fergana refinery. The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and Export-Import Bank of Japan will fund the $180 million, 18-month project....

Procatalyse.
April 5, 1999... Procatalyse, a unit of France's Isis, bought Engelhard Corp.'s 50% share in their refining catalyst joint venture, Acreon Catalysts. The two firms had held equal interests in Houston-based Acreon since January 1993.

Plenty River Corp. Ltd.(to develop ammonia/urea fertilizer plant with Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Plenty River Corp. Ltd., Melbourne, and Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd., New Delhi, will jointly develop a $790 million (Australian) ammonia/urea fertilizer plant on Burrup Peninsula in northwestern Western Australia. The partners have...

BASF Corp.(to build butanediol plant in Louisiana)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... BASF Corp., Mount Olive, N.J., plans to build a 100,000 metric ton/year butanediol plant at its Gelsmar, La., site. BASF will use ester hydrogenation technology licensed in May from Kvaerner Process Technology, London. Start-up of the plant,...

The Philippines Senate.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... The Philippines Senate intends to implement the government's oil spill prevention policy, adopted in 1994. The decision follows a Mar. 19 bunker fuel spill in Manila Bay by the Sea Brothers tanker. The tanker hit the south harbor's breakwater...

Kendall Energy LLC.(to build power plant in Illinois)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Kendall Energy LLC, a unit of independent power producer LS Power LLC, East Brunswick, N.J., plans to build, own, and operate a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Kendall County, Ill., about 30 miles southwest of Chicago....

Panda Energy International Inc.(to build gas-fired power plant in Arkansas)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Panda Energy International Inc., Dallas, plans to build a $400 million natural gas-fired power plant in Union County, Ark., next to Entergy Corp.'s El Dorado switching station, northeast of El Dorado. Capacity will be 1,800-2,200 MW. The plant,...

AES Corp.(company's AES Transpower Holding Proprietary Ltd. to acquire Ecogen Energy assets)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... AES Corp. unit AES Transpower Holding Pty. Ltd., Arlington, Va., won a bid to acquire the assets of Ecogen Energy, a state firm of Victoria, Australia, for $350 million (Australian). The assets include two gas-fired power plants-- Newport and...

Mariner Energy Inc.(testing Dulcimer discovery in Gulf of Mexico completed)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Mariner Energy Inc., Houston, completed production testing at its Dulcimer discovery on Garden Banks Block 367 in the Gulf of Mexico. On test, the well flowed 64 MMcfd of gas from two zones at 9,900-10,500 ft. The well, in 1,145 ft of water, is...

Chieftain International Inc.(discovers oil in Gulf of Mexico)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Chieftain International Inc., Edmonton, and Equitable Production Co. made an oil discovery on South Timbalier Block 196 off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The block's No. 1 well was drilled to 12,098 ft TD and encountered more than 110 net ft...

Exxon Corp.(signs oil production contract in Caspian Sea)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Exxon Corp. unit Exxon South Caspian Ltd. signed a production-sharing agreement and acquired a participating interest in the Araz-Alov-Sharg block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. The block is 110 miles south-southeast of Baku and...

Santa Fe Energy Resources Inc.(tests oil wells in South Timbalier area)
April 5, 1999... Santa Fe Energy Resources Inc., Houston, tested two wells in the South Timbalier area. South Timbalier 186 C-1, in an area owned 100% by Santa Fe, flowed 20.2 MMcfd of gas and more than 1,779 b/d of condensate through a 21/64-in. choke with...

Medusa Oil & Gas.(starts oil well production, Czech Republic)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Medusa Oil & Gas, a unit of Aberdeen-based Ramco Energy plc, and partner Moravske Naflove Doly AS, the former Czech state oil firm, began production from Krumvir-2 well on Karlin block of the Czech Republic (OGJ, Feb. 16, 1998, p. 38). The...

Britannia Operator Ltd.(stops oil and gas field production, North Sea)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Britannia Operator Ltd. (BOL), the joint venture of Chevron U.K. Ltd. and Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. established to develop and operate Britannia field, stopped production on Mar. 19. BOL said the flow of gas and condensate was shut in as a...

Northern States Power.(to merge with New Century Energies)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Northern States Power (NSP), Minneapolis, and New Century Energies (NCE), Denver, plan to merge in a taxfree, stock-for-stock deal reportedly valued at $4.66 billion. NCE stockholders will receive 1.55 shares of stock in the new company for...

Shareholders of Ocean Energy Inc. and Seagull Energy Corp.(approve merger)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Shareholders of Ocean Energy Inc. and Seagull Energy Corp., both of Houston, approved the merger of the two companies (OGJ, Dec. 28, 1998, p. 26). Both firms are divesting assets to reduce debt (OGJ, Jan. 18, 1999, p. 30). In a separate...

Edison International.(purchases stake in Contact Energy Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Edison International unit Edison Mission Energy, Rosemead, Calif., acquired a 40% stake in New Zealand's state-owned natural gas/hydro/geothermal/power utility Contact Energy Ltd. for $625 million. The deal is contingent on New Zealand making...

Midcoast Energy Resources Inc.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Midcoast Energy Resources Inc., Houston, acquired Flare LLC, Columbia, Miss., and Dufour Petroleum Inc. (DPI), Petal, Miss., for $11.1 million in cash, stock, and assumed debt. Flare is a natural gas processor, and DPI transports and markets...

Pacalta Resources Ltd.(rejects purchase offer from Alberta Energy Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Pacalta Resources Ltd., Calgary, formally rejected a $735.7 million (Canadian) takeover bid from Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., Calgary (OGJ, Mar. 22, 1999, p. 38). Outside advisers considered the offer inadequate, said Pacalta. Pacalta has adopted a...

CMS Energy Corp.(purchases Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., Trunkline Gas Co. and Trunkline LNG Co.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... CMS Energy Corp., Dearborn, Mich., completed its $2.2 billion acquisition of Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., Trunkline Gas Co., and Trunkline LNG Co. from Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, NC. (OGJ, Mar. 29, 1999, p. 30).

CMS Energy.(builds gas-fired power plant, Persian Gulf coast)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... CMS Energy obtained $562.5 million in financing from a group of banks led by Barclays Bank of the U.A.E. for the construction of the $750 million, 710-MW gas-fired Al Taweelah A2 power plant and desalination complex on the Persian Gulf coast....

Australian Gas Light Co.(acquires gas distribution system in New Zealand)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Australian Gas Light Co. (AGL) acquired a 920-km natural gas distribution system--New Zealand's third largest--for $112 million (New Zealand). The pipeline network serves 26,000 sites in the Huff Valley and Porirua region near the capital...

PennzEnergy Co.(forms joint venture with Sonat Exploration Co.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... PennzEnergy Co., Houston, and Sonat Exploration Co., a unit of Sonat Inc., Birmingham, Ala., formed a joint venture to develop mineral interests underlain by coalbed methane in the Raton basin at the 700,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch in...

Burlington Resources Inc.(to form new company with Enron Capital and Trade Resources Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Burlington Resources Inc., Houston, signed an agreement with Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corp. (ECT), Houston, to form Lost Creek Gathering Co. LLC. Lost Creek will build a 124-mile, 24-in. natural gas gathering system from Madden field in...

Air Liquide Canada Inc.(building gas processing and power plant in Scotford, Alberta)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Air Liquide Canada Inc., Montreal, will build a $150 million (Canadian) gas processing and power plant at Scotford, Alta. The plant will serve an existing styrene monomer plant and a $350 million monoethylene glycol plant under construction at...

Shell Deepwater Production Inc.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Shell Deepwater Production Inc. signed an agreement with Canadian Chemical Reclaiming Ltd. (CCRL) to license CCRL's technology for the reclamation and purification of monoethylene glycol for Shell's Mensa gas production facility in the Gulf of...

Coastal Corp.
April 5, 1999... Coastal Corp. unit Coastal Liquids Partners LP, Houston, commissioned a refined products terminal at Edinburg, Tex., on 11 acres about 15 miles north of McAllen, Tex. An 8-in. pipeline linked to refineries at Corpus Christi, Tex., will supply...

Chevron Corp.
April 5, 1999... Chevron Corp. launched a 308,500 dwt, double-hull tanker at Koje, South Korea. The vessel, named J. Bennett Johnson, is one of the two largest of Chevron's 12 double-hull ships and is the second of four being built for Chevron by Samsung Heavy...

Yergin's outlook.
April 5, 1999... Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, doesn't see a strong rebound for oil prices this year. He said that, even if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' agreement holds, the price for West Texas...

Oil price climb continues after OPEC agreement.
April 5, 1999... Oil prices have continued to climb following the production-cuffing deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and certain key non-OPEC exporters. Yet a price rise of more than $4/bbl in the past month appears to be...

Low oil prices cause U.S. and Canadian firms to curtail capital outlays in 1999.
April 5, 1999... Oil and gas company U.S. capital spending is expected to fall sharply in 1999, driven by extremely low oil prices and weak natural gas prices. Companies also plan to slash investments in areas outside of the U.S. and Canada for the same...

Salomon: U.S. leads decline in E&P spending.(worldwide petroleum exploration and production expenditures)
April 5, 1999... Worldwide exploration and production expenditures are in the most severe contraction since 1986, says Salomon Smith Barney, New York. According to the firm's annual survey of upstream spending, global E&P outlays will decline by 11% in 1999...

Decommissioning concrete [C.sub.3] tank poses safety concerns.
April 5, 1999... Zoher Meratla is principal of CDS Research Ltd., Whistler, B.C. From 1974 to 1977, he was group leader, dynamics and systems, with Vickers Engineering, Southampton, U.K. Since then, he has been principal of CDS, where he worked on law...

Liquid-ring vacuum compressors stabilize Oman crude.
April 5, 1999... Hiren Sarma is head of process, control, and optimization for Petroleum Development Oman, in Muscat Oman. He has more than 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, mainly in process design, both onshore and offshore. Sarma has...

CFD-aided design improves FCC performance.
April 5, 1999... D. Barthod is a research engineer at Total's technical center in Harfleur, France, where he has been working since 1995. He is in charge of the CFD section in the process-development department. He is responsible for adopting simulation codes...

NELSON-FARRAR COST INDEXES.
April 5, 1999... NELSON-FARRAR COST INDEXES Refinery construction (1946 Basis) (Explained on p. 145 of the Issue of Dec. 30, 1985) Dec....

Waterjet-surface preparation removes epoxy from tank floor.
April 5, 1999... Clark Refining & Marketing Inc. saved about $75,000 by using a proprietary Waterjet system vs. a gritblast system to remove an epoxy liner inside one of its refining tanks. The tank is located at Clark's Port Arthur, Tex., refinery. Flow...

Indexes for selected equipment show moderate increase.
April 5, 1999... Costs for six selected equipment items used in refining construction operations have been surveyed for the 3 years, 1996-1998. The accompanying table shows Nelson-Farrar equipment indexes for these items of equipment. Valves and fittings...

Petroleum engineering software.
April 5, 1999... MICA for Windows is an advanced petroleum engineering software application that runs under the Microsoft Windows operating system. It features decline curve analysis, economic projections, probabilistic reserves, P/Z gas well analysis, gas well...

Hazardous area remote display terminals.(Azonix Corp. introduces remote display terminals for use in oil exploration and other hazardous areas)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... Two new hazardous area remote display (HARD) terminals are designed to simplify and lower the cost of PC based data acquisition and control in hazardous area operations. Both terminals offer enhanced hazardous area operation yet eliminate the,...

Connector compensates for misalignment of pipelines.(A-CON)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... The A-CON, a new generation variable alignment connector, is designed for pipelines and other piping systems where the connector must be able to compensate for misalignment of the pipeline ends. The connector seal uses spherical sealing...

PC configurable signal conditioners.(from -System Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... PC configurable signal conditioners have been added to a line of Mini-M supermini signal conditioners. These new units feature output accuracy as high as 0.01% of full scale range. The signal conditioners are also configurable with a PC,...

MOVES AND PROMOTIONS.
April 5, 1999... C.C. Pace Consulting, Fairfax, Va., a subsidiary of C.C. Pace Resources, Inc., has named Jigar Shah director of industrial and utility support, reporting to Mark Peterson, president. Shah, a chemical engineer, has more than nineteen years...

Oil, gas field growth projections: wishful thinking or reality?
April 5, 1999... Email D. Attanasi is an economist. Since 1973 he has been with the USGS working on development of resource assessment methods and the integration of economics into USGS oil and gas assessments. He received a BA degree in mathematics from...

NASA, Geosat to conduct sensor research probe.
April 5, 1999... Dave Koger is proprietor of Roger-Remote Sensing, Fort Worth, and past chairman of the Geosat Committee. E-mail: dkoger@aol.com Dr. Rebecca L. Dodge is Geosat research and training director at the Pan American Center for Earth and...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.(Oil and Gas Journal oil prices)
April 5, 1999... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 3-26-99 [*] 3-27-98 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 18.45 19.68 -1.23...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.(American Petroleum Institute)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 3-26 3-19 [*] 3-26 3-19 [*] 1999 1999 ...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total Comp [+] Naphtha...

API REFINERY REPORT--MARCH 26, 1999.(American Petroleum Institute)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... API REFINERY REPORT--MARCH 26, 1999 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable % District ...

OGJ GASOLINE PRICES.(Oil and Gas Journal)
April 5, 1999... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES Price Pump ex tax price [*] ...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.
April 5, 1999... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 3-26-99 3-27-98 Alabama 6 8 Alaska 5 12 Arkansas 3 9 California ...

OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT.(Oil and Gas Journal, crude oil production)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT 3-26-99 [*] 3-27-98 [+] (1,000 b/d) (Crude oil and lease condensate) Alabama 31 ...

REFINED PRODUCT PRICES.
April 5, 1999... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES 3-19-99 ([cent]/gal) Spot market product prices Motor gasoline (Conventional-regular) New York Harbor ...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
April 5, 1999... SMITH RIG COUNT 3-26-99 3-27-98 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 15 13.3...

U.S. CRUDE PRICES.(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... U.S. CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [*] 3-26-99 Alaska-North Slope 27[degrees] 6.67 Southern Louisiana Light 14.50 California-Kern River 13[degrees] 9.50 Lost Hills...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.
April 5, 1999... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [*] 3-19-99 United Kingdom-Brent 38[degrees] 13.05 Russia-Urals 32[degrees] 12.22 Saudi light 34[degrees] 12.40...

AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*].(American Gas Association statistics)(Brief Article)
April 5, 1999... AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*] 3-19-99 3-12-99 Change (bcf) Producing region 526 548 -22 Consuming region east 589 646 -57 Consuming region...

WORLDWIDE NGL PRODUCTION.(natural gas liquids)
April 5, 1999... WORLDWIDE NGL PRODUCTION 12 month Chg. vs. average previous Dec. Nov. Production ...

OXYGENATES.
April 5, 1999... OXYGENATES Jan. Dec. YTD YTD 1999 1998 Change 1999 1998 Change 1,000 bbl Fuel ethanol Production 3,159 3,105 54...

U.S. HEATING DEGREE DAYS [*].
April 5, 1999... U.S. HEATING DEGREE DAYS [*] 1999% change Total degree days Jan. Jan. from July 1 through Jan. 31 ...

Newsletter.
April 12, 1999... Listen for sighs of relief throughout the oil industry now that the price of Brent crude oil futures has pushed above $15/bbl for the first time since May 1998. While few expect the improvement to last long, it appears the relative boom stems...

U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 4/12.
April 12, 1999... U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 4/12 4 wk. 4 wk. avg % Year-to-date YTD avg Latest week 4/2 average year ago [*] change average [*] year ago [*] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor...

Dislocation and renewal.
April 12, 1999... The futures price of crude oil is approaching $17/bbl at this writing, and posted prices in the Lower 48 states are mostly above $10/bbl. Perhaps it is constructive to recall some events in the past year's epic struggles. Tens of...

Too many measured punches.
April 12, 1999... Which comes first in American foreign policy--the economic sanction or the cruise missile? It's getting hard to tell. Various levels of government have come to impose sanctions so readily that Congress might limit the tactic (see Watching...

BP Amoco-ARCO merger promises to change the oil industry's landscape.
April 12, 1999... Contributing to this article were Associate Managing Editor-News Anne Rhodes, Senior Editor David Knott, Energy Policies Editor Patrick Crow, and Staff Writer Steven Poruban. The accelerating consolidation of the petroleum industry has...

Upstream focus of Total Fina 1999 spending.
April 12, 1999... The soon-to-be-merged Total Fina group will make upstream its priority, as far as spending is concerned, says Total Chairman and CEO Thierry Desmarest. This year, the upstream sector will account for 60% of the 4 billion euros earmarked...

Elf's 'painless' U.K. restructuring.
April 12, 1999... With job losses accompanying every merger or takeover at the moment, it feels like the petroleum industry's boom/bust cycle is inescapable. Elf Exploration U.K. plc is as lean and mean as any North Sea operator, but through good timing...

Trinidadian state firm in U.S. retail marketing venture.
April 12, 1999... Petrotrin, Trinidad and Tobago's national oil company, has agreed to set up a joint venture with U. S. partners to build a series of full-service truck stops in the U.S. and to market its high-value refined products directly through...

Key Pemex projects to escape budget ax.
April 12, 1999... Because of fiscal difficulties facing the Mexican government, stemming largely from the slump in oil prices, state-owned petroleum company Petroleos Mexicanos has seen its budget cut in 1999, in real terms, by 4.3% from 1998's level, to 78.3...

Antitrust probe targets Petrobras gas activity.
April 12, 1999... Brazilian antitrust authorities have launched an investigation of activity by state petroleum firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA in Brazil's natural gas sector. Until 1997, when new legislation ended the state firm's 43-year-old monopoly over the...

Amazon find boosts Brazil gas, power sectors.
April 12, 1999... Development of gas reserves in Brazil's Amazon region has received a major boost with the discovery of a significant gas field in a new area much closer to potential markets. Petroleo Brasileiro SA noted that its latest discovery of natural...