The Oil and Gas Journal articles from April 1999

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from April 1999

API REFINERY REPORT--APRIL 16, 1999.
April 26, 1999... API REFINERY REPORT--APRIL 16, 1999 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable % District ...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.
April 26, 1999... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total Comp [+] Naphtha...

Newsletter.
April 26, 1999... Despite a recent sharp rebound in oil prices, the damage done from last year's slump will continue to hobble U.S. oil production through 2000. That's the gist of the IPAA supply and demand committee's latest shortterm forecast. The...

License to be nosy.
April 26, 1999... A good reporter is said to have a nose for a story. While I would make no such claim for myself, I admit to being extremely nosy. As a nosy person-and one who is turned on by innovation--there can surely be no better job than that of a...

Sulfur in gasoline.
April 26, 1999... Refiners in the U.S. soon will have to reduce concentrations of sulfur in gasoline under a rule due at any time from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rule will serve as an interesting gauge of environmental policy-making in the...

India's ONGC accelerates global investment strategy as competition heats up at home.
April 26, 1999... India's biggest state oil company, Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), is accelerating a global investment strategy in response to increasing domestic competition spurred by demonopolization and deregulation. ONGC is gradually losing...

Deep water strongest lure in Indian round.
April 26, 1999... Deepwater blocks off India have attracted the strongest interest from foreign companies responding to that country's newly burnished exploration acreage offering. Overall, India's New Licensing and Exploration Policy (NELP) has received...

Brazil hits top of E&P prospect ranks.
April 26, 1999... Brazil is the most popular country this year for new exploration, development, and production ventures, although the Middle East has become the most sought-after region. These are the findings of Robertson Research International Ltd.,...

Coplex, Petrobas to develop fields off Brazil.
April 26, 1999... Coplex Resources NL, Hobart, Tasmania, and Brazilian state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA have agreed to form a joint venture to develop existing oil and gas fields in the Santos basin off Brazil. The agreement also provides for...

Peru slates Camisea tender for May.
April 26, 1999... Peru will call a new tender for the world-class Camisea natural gas project in May. A scheme proposed by units of Royal Dutch/Shell and Mobil Corp. to develop the fields in Peru's central southern jungle and market about 9 tcf of gas...

Oil price defies gravity.
April 26, 1999... Like a magician's levitation act, the behavior of crude oil prices has appeared to defy gravity since producers slated output cuts in March. At the close of London trading on Apr. 19, both dated Brent crude and June delivery Brent stood...

Trinidad and Tobago gas processing plant expansion starts up.
April 26, 1999... Phoenix Park Gas Processors Ltd. has completed a $155 million expansion of its gas processing plant at Point Lisas, Trinidad and Tobago. The project has doubled the plant's capacities for processing natural gas and for producing,...

Atlantic LNG on stream; expansion planned.
April 26, 1999... The Atlantic LNG Co. of Trinidad & Tobago has loaded the first cargo of liquefied natural gas from its export plant at Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago. The first cargo was loaded Apr. 19 for the project, the first grassroots LNG export...

Iran seeking to lure petchem investors.
April 26, 1999... International petrochemical producers are keen to invest in Iran, if attendance last week at the first Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF) in Tehran is a guide. The forum, with attendance put at more than 600, was aimed at luring foreign capital...

The editorial of Apr. 12.(Correction Notice)
April 26, 1999... The editorial of Apr. 12 incorrectly referred to "auspices of the United Nations" in a statement about military conflict in Yugoslavia (OGJ, Apr. 12, 1999, p. 21). The reference should have been to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Chevron U.S.A. Production Co.
April 26, 1999... Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. decided not to form a 50-50 joint venture with ARCO Permian (OGJ, Feb. 15, 1999, Newsletter). The combination would have joined the two companies' production operations in the Permian basin of West Texas and...

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.
April 26, 1999... TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, plans to sell its U.S. Gulf Coast natural gas midstream facilities and its U.S. oil marketing and trading units. TransCanada holds ownership interests in six midstream facilities in Louisiana, with...

Conoco Inc.
April 26, 1999... Conoco Inc. priced its $4 billion jumbo, multi-tranche offering of senior debt securities. This offering is $1 billion more than a previously announced offering. The offer consists of: $1.35 billion in 5-year notes due 2004 with a coupon of...

Unocal Corp.
April 26, 1999... Unocal Corp. will offer up to $256 million (Canadian) for an interest in Northrock Resources Ltd., Calgary, to increase its exposure to the Canadian natural gas market. Northrock said the offer would provide an infection of cash and allow it...

Koch Industries Inc.
April 26, 1999... Koch Industries Inc. unit Koch Midstream Services Co., Houston, acquired East Texas natural gas gathering and treating assets from Pioneer Natural Resources U.S.A. Inc. and Pioneer Natural Gas Co. for an undisclosed sum. Included in the...

Edge Energy Inc.
April 26, 1999... Edge Energy Inc., Calgary, launched a $40.6 million (Canadian) takeover bid for Volterra Resources Inc., Calgary. The deal would include the assumption of $21 million in net debt. The acquisition would give Edge additional assets in its West...

Securities regulators.
April 26, 1999... Securities regulators in Alberta and Ontario ruled against an ambitious plan by Westlinks Resources Ltd., a small Calgary independent, to acquire interests in up to 40 oil companies. Westlinks wanted to issue up to 1.6 billion shares traded...

Castle Energy Corp.
April 26, 1999... Castle Energy Corp., Radnor, Pa., plans to acquire nearly all of AmBrit Energy Corp.'s oil and gas assets for $22 million. The properties include producing and undeveloped lands in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico,...

Borealis Compounds GmbH.
April 26, 1999... Borealis Compounds GmbH, a unit of Borealis AS, Copenhagen, plans to close its 32,000 metric ton/year compounding facility at Norderstedt, Germany, north of Hamburg. Production from the plant will be shifted to Borealis's other compounding...

Shell Oil Co.
April 26, 1999... Shell Oil Co. and Petroleos Mexicanos gave final approval Apr. 13 to a joint project that will increase capacity of Shell's Deer Park, Tex., refinery. The project, to be completed by second quarter 2001, involves construction of a new sulfur...

Pemex.
April 26, 1999... Pemex let a $300 million, 2 1/2-year contract to Siemens Power Generation Group, Schaumburg, Ill., to upgrade and extend the process control system at Pemex's Madero oil refinery. Work will include the installation of a Teleperm XP...

Williams.
April 26, 1999... Williams, Tulsa, intends to acquire an additional 33% stake in Lithuania's state-owned Mazeikiu Nafta refinery and related marine terminal. Williams last year agreed to acquire 33% of the plant for $150 million. During first quarter 1999, the...

Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd.
April 26, 1999... Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd. let contract to Kvaerner AS, Oslo, for engineering, procurement, and construction of a pipeline/cable bundle at its Singapore oil refinery complex. The bundle is part of a $100 million expansion of the refinery...

Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway.
April 26, 1999... Phillips Petroleum Co. Norway shut down the Ekofisk complex Apr. 19, in the Norwegian North Sea, to repair a leak in the gas cooling unit on Platform 2/4J. Phillips, Ekofisk operator, expects the shutdown to last no more than 2 weeks....

U.S. Minerals Management Service.
April 26, 1999... U.S. Minerals Management Service extended to May 6 the comment period for proposed regulations regarding marginal oil and gas properties on federal public lands (OGJ, Mar. 29,1999, p. 14).

Saga Petroleum AS,.
April 26, 1999... Saga Petroleum AS, Oslo, submitted to Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy a plan for the development of Borg discovery on Norwegian North Sea Block 34/7. The find, previously known as H-Central, lies 1 km west of Saga's Tordis field, a...

India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
April 26, 1999... India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) filed an insurance claim for $70 million for damages caused by a wild well fire raging on its B 121-D offshore gas platform in the Bombay High area off India (OGJ, Mar. 29, 1999, p. 31). At presstime,...

Amerada Hess Ltd.
April 26, 1999... Amerada Hess Ltd. plans to halt production from U.K. North Sea. Durward and Dauntless fields at the. end of April, at which time the fields will have yielded 11 million bbl of oil. The fields were brought on stream in August 1997 with the...

Talisman Energy (U.K.) Ltd.
April 26, 1999... Talisman Energy (U.K.) Ltd. started up oil production from Ross field in the U.K. North Sea on Apr. 20. The field was developed with the Bleo Hoim EPSO, owned and operated by Bluewater Marine. Ross has estimated reserves of 60 million bbl of...

Development costs.
April 26, 1999... Development costs of the In Salah gas project in southwest Algeria were reduced to $2 billion from the original $3.6 billion, reported Paris-based Arab Oil & Gas Review. The project's equal partners are BP Amoco plc and Algerian national oil...

Elwood Energy LIC,.
April 26, 1999... Elwood Energy LIC, a joint venture of units of Peoples Energy Corp. and Dominion Energy Inc., entered into multi-year agreements to supply Commonwealth Edison Co. and Engage Energy U.S. LP with 300 MW of power each from its 600 MW-natural...

Occidental Petroleum Corp.
April 26, 1999... Occidental Petroleum Corp. began appraisal and exploration efforts on Block 44 in northern Oman; the block is one of the five that Oxy and joint venture partners RP Amoco and Finland's Fortum Oy are developing for gas (see map and story, OGJ,...

Premier & Shell Pakistan BV.
April 26, 1999... Premier & Shell Pakistan BV acquired an exploration license for the Dadhar block, which covers 6,248 sq km of Pakistan's Baluchistan province. Premier/Shell's Premier Exploration Pakistan Ltd. unit will be operator and 95% interest holder of...

Elf Petroland BV.
April 26, 1999... Elf Petroland BV disclosed a gas discovery on Black K5a off the Netherlands. Elf said the K5-1 1 well was drilled to 4,140 m TD and flowed 26.5 MMcfd from the Rotliegendes sandstone play. The operator said it is studying the most...

Buccaneer Gas Pipeline Co. LIC,.
April 26, 1999... Buccaneer Gas Pipeline Co. LIC, a unit of Williams, received 1.3 bcfd in longterm, aggregate nominations, under a recent open season, for newly created firm transportation capacity on the Buccaneer natural gas pipeline (OGJ, Mar. 15, 1999, p....

India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
April 26, 1999... India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is to set up two major oil spill response centers at Mumbai and Kakinada, along coastal Andhra Pradesh state. The centers were the suggestion of the International Maritime Organization in May 1993, when...

Hyundai Heavy Industires Ltd.,.
April 26, 1999... Hyundai Heavy Industires Ltd., Seoul, began construction of a $41 million refining catalysts plant south of Kuwait City. The 5,000 metric ton/year plant is slated for completion by August 2000. The plant is jointly owned by the Kuwait...

Budget battles.
April 26, 1999... With great fanfare early each year, a U.S. presidential administration announces its budget for the fiscal year beginning the following Oct. 1. Reporters and lobbyists crowd auditoriums at federal agencies to witness cabinet secretaries...

PanCanadian, Gulf launch heavy oil joint venture.
April 26, 1999... PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. and Gulf Canada Resources Ltd.. both of Calgary, are combining heavy oil assets on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border in a new $400 million (Canadian) joint venture. The companies said combining operations on...

Study quantifies Powder River coal seam properties.
April 26, 1999... THE AUTHORS Matt Mavor is president of Tesseract Corp., Park City, Utah. Tesseract provides unconventional reservoir geology, engineering, and field services to the oil and gas industry. Mavor has been extensively involved in the...

Coalbed methane production shows wide range of variability.
April 26, 1999... As compared to conventional gas plays, the production distribution of coalbed methane (CBM) shows a wide range of variability that can mislead development strategies. "That's the problem with CBM, it is difficult to understand the...

Appraisal drilling focuses on Ordos basin coal seams.
April 26, 1999... THE AUTHORS Creties Jenkins is s senior staff geologist with ARCO Technology & Operations Services in Plano, Tex., where he performs technical service work, research, and training in the characterization of sandstone and coal reservoirs....

New Mexico Raton basin coalbed methane development resumes.
April 26, 1999... Raton basin coalbed methane development is reviving in the Vermejo Park Ranch area, in northeast New Mexico. A PennzEnergy Co. and Sonat Exploration Co. joint venture recently announced a project in a 700,000-acre area, mostly in Colfax Co.,...

Filtration can manage costly contaminants in refineries.
April 26, 1999... THE AUTHORS Thomas H Wines is a senior staff engineer with the scientific and laboratory services department of Pall Corp. His experience includes 10 years of trouble shooting refinery and gas plant filtration applications worldwide. He...

Athabasca pipeline to handle growing oilsands production.
April 26, 1999... Difficult terrain and routing were overcome by Enbridge Pipelines (Athabasca) Inc., Calgary, to build the first direct pipeline link between the oilsands deposits of northeastern Alberta and Canada's main crude-oil pipeline system. ...

Shipboard thermal-oil lines protected with cellular glass insulation.
April 26, 1999... Thermal-oil pipelines aboard vessels operating in eastern Canadian and U.S. waterways have been coated with a cellular glass insulation to protect against the often frigid and corrosive environment. Rigel Shipping Canada Inc., Shediac,...

Wire rope cutter for underwater operation.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... A new cutter severs wire rope with diameters as large as 115 mm. The RCV 115 model is suited for offshore oil installations, gas pipelines, and communications cables. It was developed to handle rope of larger diameters. It joins the...

Tank gauge alarm helps stop thief.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... A new antitheft facility for tank level gauges is on the market. It is an enhancement for this firm's Compact and FuelMaster gauging systems and SiteGlass for Windows PC software. The 'out of hours' alarm feature enables users to specify...

New range of manifold valves.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... A new range of Precision instrumentation products is mainly made from round bar, giving high strength characteristics and common stock holding. This allows them to work to pressures of as great as 10,000 psi. Valves are designed and made...

Temperature transmitter.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... The new TMD 833 Smart temperature transmitter is particularly tailored to meet demands of petrochemical and oil and gas operations. Features include: * Digital indication for Exd and Ex ia applications. * Personal computer...

Halliburton Energy Services and Sword (Aberdeen) Limited.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Halliburton Energy Services and Sword (Aberdeen) Limited have formed an alliance to develop and market 'Aquatarge', an advanced water deluge cooling system principally for use on offshore drilling rigs. Aquatarge systems are designed to...

Schlumberger Oilfield Services.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Schlumberger Oilfield Services has announced the launch of the Geco Eagle in Bergen, Norway--the first of a new generation of integrated seismic recording vessels. The launch follows an extensive program of upgrades to an existing fleet...

Intergraph Corp.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., has signed a global supplier agreement with Mobil Corp. Under terms of the agreement, Intergraph will supply software, support services and hardware to Mobil refining and chemical manufacturing facilities...

Swaco.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Swaco, Houston, Tex., a division of M-l Drilling Fluids Canada, Inc., has announced the formation of an alliance with SCC Environmental Group Inc. of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. SCC Environmental Group focuses on providing integrated...

Shell Guardian Ltd.
April 26, 1999... Shell Guardian Ltd., a wholly owned company of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, and Baker Hughes Ltd. have established a 50/50 joint venture company called [e.sup.2]TECH to develop and market an advanced well construction and...

Philippines Central Valley basin may hold carbonate and sandstone gas.
April 26, 1999... THE AUTHOR Ed Durkee has spent nearly 45 years in oil and gas exploration. He has worked on all continents except Autarctica in most of the world's principal oil providers. Since 1987 he has concentrated on the Pacific Rim in New...

Geophysical.(CGG Marine launches seismic vessel)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... CGG Marine launched what it termed the world's largest seismic vessel, the 11,500 ton CGG Alize. The 25,000 hp diesel electric vessel can deploy 100 km of streamers from 16 winches. It has full onboard 3D processing and satellite link...

Denmark.(Denmark's energy industry grants Gustavson Associates Inc. of Boulder, CO, exploration license)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... The energy ministry granted Gustavson Associates Inc., Boulder, Cob., an exploration license on a 350,000 acre North Sea block along the Farsund basin's southern rim. Gustavson visualizes generation of hydrocarbons in the Farsund...

Egypt.(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Wavetech Geophysical Inc., Denver, proposed a nonexclusive regional seismic survey in the Mediterranean over the Nile Delta off Egypt. The survey is intended to provide a better understanding of the structure and development of the Nile...

Equatorial Guinea.(Ministry extends bid deadline fo deepwater licensing to 8/2/99)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... The ministry extended to Aug. 2, 1999, the bid deadline for the current deepwater licensing round. Bidders are free to define royalty increments between the minimum 10% and maximum 16% set by the November 1998 hydrocarbons law.

Greenland.(Petroleum exploration to occur off West Greenland in next few years)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Exploration is likely to be concentrated the next few years off West Greenland south of 71[degrees] N. Lat., in the Disko-Nuussuaq areas onshore West Greenland, and in Jameson Land, East Greenland, says Geological Survey of Denmark and...

India.(Oil India Ltd. finds commercial oil in Eocene sandstone reservoirs, Upper Assam basin)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Oil India Ltd. found commercial oil in Eocene sandstone reservoirs on its concession in the central Upper Assam basin. The discovery, at 4,672 m in Moran field, is thought to hold reserves of 5-6 million metric tons of oil plus some gas based...

Nigeria.(Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. plans to spud Kolmani wildcat in Bauchi state)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. has prepared location and plans to spud its Kolmani wildcat in Bauchi state, northeastern Nigeria. Projected depth and formation were not available for the Gongola basin exploratory test.

Pakistan.(Government grants two exploration licenses to joint venture of Oil & Gas Co. Ltd. and Government Holdings)
April 26, 1999... The government granted two exploration licenses to a joint venture of Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd. and Government Holdings. These cover the 1,107 sq km Kharar Block 3070-5 in Barghan and DG Khan districts and the 520 sq km Sohawa Block...

Newfoundland.(Pan Ocean Explorations Inc. strikes deal with Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. for onshore drilling)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... More land drilling is likely in western Newfoundland this year. Pan Ocean Explorations Inc., Vancouver, B.C., reached agreement with Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. covering two onshore blocks in the York Harbour project. Pan Ocean will drill an...

Nova Scotia.(Hunt Oil Co., Dallas receives tentative exploration rights to about 720,000 acres in Nova Scotia)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Hunt Oil Co., Dallas, has received tentative exploration rights to about 720,000 acres in central Nova Scotia. Final approval would require Hunt to file a working plan and post a bond, the Nova Scotia Petroleum Directorate said. The lands...

Gulf of Mexico.(Santa Fe Energy Resources Inc. completes two wells)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Santa Fe Energy Resources Inc. completed two wells on South Timbalier Block 186. The C-1 well flowed 20.2 MMcfd of gas with more than 1,779 b/d of condensate on a 21/64 in. choke with 6,350 psi FTP from 13,390-470 ft. The C-2 well...

Louisiana.(Snyder Oil Corp. plans to abandon reef wildcat in Winn Parish; Quest Exploration L.L.C. gauges well in Acadia Parish; Combined Resources Group announces results)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Snyder Oil Corp., Fort Worth, planned to abandon a Jurassic Cotton Valley pinnacle reef wildcat in Winn Parish. Logs, cores, and shows provided encouragement regarding the 1 Bozeman, in 6-12n-3w, drilled to 16,230 ft in a sidetrack. However,...

Michigan.(State supervisor of wells issues order allowing)(operators of Devonian Antrim shale wells to drill multiple laterals from existing wells in 22 counties)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... The state supervisor of wells issued an order allowing operators of Devonian Antrim shale wells to drill multiple laterals from existing wells in 22 counties, reports Michigan Oil & Gas News. The order allows such activity without...

Montana.(Encore Acquisition Partners Inc. plans to acquire Shell Western E&P Inc.'s interests in Cedar Creek anticline area)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Encore Acquisition Partners Inc., Fort Worth, plans to acquire by June 1 Shell Western E&P Inc.'s interests in the Cedar Creek anticline area of eastern Montana/western North Dakota. The properties cover 120,000 gross contiguous acres....

Texas.(Oil and gas activity by Weber Energy Corp., Helmerich & Payne Inc., Corda Corp., and HS Resources Inc)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... South Weber Energy Corp., Dallas, plans to spud the 2 Nordia Grande, in First Shot field, Gonzales County, this month. Its 1 Nordia Grande flowed 1,040 bid of 47[degrees] gravity oil with 1 MMcfd of gas on a l4/64 in. choke with...

West Virginia.(Fox Oil & Gas Inc., Washington, Pa., staked two wildcats to Devonian Oriskany on the Eastern Overthrust Belt)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Fox Oil & Gas Inc., Washington, Pa., staked two wildcats to Devonian Oriskany on the Eastern Overthrust Belt. The 1 TG&C Coal, in Piedmont district, Westernport quad, Mineral County, is projected to 10,117 ft. The 2 Broadwater, in New Creek...

Wyoming.(Gas reserves and production dominate oil figures)(Brief Article)
April 26, 1999... Gas reserves and production are dominating oil figures in the state. The state's gas reserves are estimated at 14.32 tcf, fourth highest in the U.S., said Don Likwartz, supervisor, Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. Total...

OGJ CRACK SPRED.
April 26, 1999... OGJ CRACK SPRED 4-16-99 [*] 4-17-98 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPORT PRICES Product value 19.53 18.88 0.65...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.
April 26, 1999... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 Total U.S. 4-16 4-9 [*] 4-16 4-9 [*] 4-16 ...

OGJ GASOLINE PRICES.
April 26, 1999... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES Price Pump ex tax price [*] ...

REFINED PRODUCT PRICES.
April 26, 1999... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES 4-9-99 ([cent]/gal) Spot market product prices Motor gasoline (Conventional-regular) New York Harbor ...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.
April 26, 1999... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 4-16-99 4-17-98 Alabama 6 6 Alaska 5 12 Arkansas 1 9 California 18 26 ...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
April 26, 1999... SMITH RIG COUNT 4-16-99 4-17-98 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 16 6.2...