The Oil and Gas Journal articles from April 2001

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from April 2001

OGJ News letter Market Movement.
April 30, 2001... Tight gasoline markets ahead It's "deja vu all over again" for gasoline markets in the US, as the patterns established during last year's driving season are manifesting themselves again. And that means an unpleasant summer "rerun"...

US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 4/30.
April 30, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 4/30 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date Latest Week 4/20 average year ago [1] change average [1] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline 8,504...

DeWitt & Co.
April 30, 2001... RECENT ETHYLENE CAPACITY ADDITIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE ASIAN AND EUROPEAN PRODUCERS WORRIED, consulting company DeWitt & Co. said at its World Petrochemical Review in Houston last month. It said that in North America, the strength of...

Northern Virginia Technology Council.
April 30, 2001... US ENERGY PROBLEMS WON'T BESOLVED OVERNIGHT, US Vice-President Dick Cheney contends. "We won't offer a quick fix, because there is none," Cheney told the Northern Virginia Technology Council earlier this month. "In fact, narrow,...

INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION.
April 30, 2001... THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION IS CONSIDERING A FASTER PHASEOUT OF SINGLE-HULL TANKERS. The IMO's marine environment protection committee plans to adopt a global timetable to phase out the use of single-hull crude tankers on a...

Global Marine.
April 30, 2001... OFFSHORE RIG MARKETS CONTINUETO STRENGTHEN. Global Marine reports its worldwide Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics (SCORE) for March increased 4.1% over February--the 19th consecutive month of increases in the rating. Bob...

Texas Energy Policy Council.
April 30, 2001... PROPOSED TEXAS LEGISLATION COULD CREATE A NEW ENERGY POLICY COUNCIL. Texas Sen. David Sibley (R-Waco) filed a bill in the legislature last week that would create a Texas Energy Policy Council charged with formulating a state energy...

BP AND PARTNERS.
April 30, 2001... BP AND PARTNERS WILL PROCEED WITH THE SECOND PHASE DEVELOPMENT OF AL RAYYAN OIL FIELD OFF QATAR, said Gulfstream Resources Canada. BP operates the field with 27.5%, Gulfstream owns 65%, and Preussag Energie GMBH owns 7.5%. The...

Enterprise Energy Ireland.
April 30, 2001... In other development news, owners of Corrib natural gas field off western Ireland have withdrawn an application to jointly market their production, due to the European Commission's concerns about competition. The EC said it "welcomes the...

Gulfstream Resources Oman.
April 30, 2001... Gulfstream Resources Oman has begun drilling at the Hafar natural gas development project in Oman. In January 1999, Gulfstream signed an agreement to develop Hafar Block 30 and sell 84 MMcfd to Oman for 25 years. The Hafar Block 30 area...

Conoco.
April 30, 2001... Conoco said the latest development well in Rang Dong field off Viet Nam was completed with a flow rate of 10,000 b/d, The 15P well on Block 15-2 boosted field output to 55,000 b/d, a production milestone. Block 15-2 is in 165 ft of water in...

Harken Energy.
April 30, 2001... Harken Energy said it diversified its international operations by signing a technical evaluation agreement (TEA) with Perupetro, the state oil company, for Area III in Peru's Maranon basin between the Ucayali River and the Brazilian border...

Petrobras.
April 30, 2001... Meanwhile, a joint venture of four companies headed by Petrobras began drilling exploratory well 1-SCS-10 on Block BS-3 in the Santos basin off Brazil. The well is being drilled in 200 m of water about 100 miles east of Itajal in southem...

Santos.
April 30, 2001... Rounding out exploration news, Santos has made its third field discovery this year in the Victorian sector of the Otway basin. The Croft-i wildcat on exploration permit 154 was drilled to 2,529 m TD. It found a 60-in gross natural gas column...

Mera Petroleums.
April 30, 2001... Mera Petroleums plans to invest up to $4 million (Can.) over the next few months on exploration and drilling work in Saskatchewan. Mera has begun a six-well program with the drilling and casing of two wells in the Leader area 95 km northeast...

Bitech Petroleum.
April 30, 2001... Bitech Petroleum announced an agreement with Dashk LLC to jointly explore the Djimdan license block on Russia's Sakhalin Island. Dasbk owned 100% of the license, and Bitech is acquiring 52% of Dashk for $1.7 million. Bitech will operate the...

SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES.
April 30, 2001... SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES HAS DEVELOPED AN INEXPENSIVE DISPOSABLE FIBER OPTICS TELEMETRY SYSTEM TO RELAY REAL-TIME INFORMATION ABOUT THE DRILLING PROCESS. David Holcomb, the researcher who devised the technique, said, "Information is...

ECORP.
April 30, 2001... ECORP HAS PROPOSED A NEW YORK GAS LINE TO SERVE NATURAL GAS-FIRED GENERATORS. eCORP Holding has disclosed details on the proposed Pipeline of New York (PONY) Express project to serve gas-fired electric power generation in New York state...

Explorer Pipeline.
April 30, 2001... In other pipeline happenings, Explorer Pipeline said its board approved a plan to expand its main products line between Houston and Chicago by at least 100,000 b/d before late 2002; it also approved additional expansions of up to another...

ExxonMobil, BP.
April 30, 2001... The North American Natural Gas Pipeline Group (NANGPG), a consortium of ExxonMobil, BP, and Phillips Petroleum, awarded a pipeline conceptual engineering contract to the AlasCan Group. AlasCan consists of Kellogg Brown & Root, Colt...

SINOPEC.
April 30, 2001... SINOPEC PLANS TO BUILD A CRUDE OIL STORAGE FACILITY AND A PIPELINE IN EASTERN CHINA. The 40 million tonne tank farm, near the Zhenhai Refining & Chemical complex in Ningbo, Zhejiang, will store crude oil imported from the Middle East....

AltaGas Services.
April 30, 2001... TOPPING GAS PROCESSING NEWS THIS WEEK, AltaGas Services plans an $8 million (Can.) expansion of its natural gas processing capacity by 20 MMcfd with expansions at its Esther and Bantry sour gas plants, both in Alberta. AltaGas has...

PHILLIPS PETROLEUM.
April 30, 2001... PHILLIPS PETROLEUM HAS STARTED UP A NEW 6,000 B/D UNIT AT ITS BORGER, TEX., REFINERY. The unit demonstrates Phillips's S Zorb sulfur removal technology (SRT) for lowering sulfur content in gasoline blending streams. The process uses...

Tosco.
April 30, 2001... In other refining action, Tosco announced that the coker-processing unit at its 13 1,000-bid Los Angeles refining complex was shut down as a result of a fire that also has reduced throughputs from some other processing units. No injuries...

Letters.
April 30, 2001... Kyoto accords The single point of agreement between both sides of the Kyoto accords seems to be that, at best, their implementation could reduce the anticipated global warming (2[degrees] C., 5[degrees] C., or whatever it will actually...

Correction.
April 30, 2001... A symbol-translation error between computer programs confused the wording of a letter from Gerald T. Westbrook (OGJ, Apr. 16, 2000, p. 10). Beginning with the third paragraph, the word "plus" appears in several places where paragraph list...

Covering the special event.
April 30, 2001... This week is the annual festival in Texas we call the Offshore Technology Conference, and it is THE event of the year in the oil industry From all directions, engineers, geologists, salesmen, journalists, and others flock to this unparalleled...

Why fuel prices are high.
April 30, 2001... Unless economic weakness quickly turns into recession, gasoline prices in the US, which are already high, will rise during the summer driving season. Much confusion exists about why this is so. If the misunderstanding persists, the threat is...

IEA, OPEC oil supply forecasts challenged.
April 30, 2001... In the global petroleum industry, many major organizations tackle the job of forecasting future oil supplies. Because the present standard forecast horizons are for 2010 and 2020, forecasters are taking little risk of being proven wrong,...

IEA, industry meetings intended to improve data reporting.
April 30, 2001... The International Energy Agency and oil industry officials plan a series of meetings designed to improve statistics gathering and reporting. IEA, which has been criticized for the inaccuracy of its data (see article, p. 24), said the...

Capital markets favorable for oil, gas firms.
April 30, 2001... All types of capital markets are now favorable for oil and gas companies, say capital providers, noting that financially robust companies are reducing debt, thus increasing the availability of capital for other companies. Frank Weisser,...

Blood and oil.
April 30, 2001... In politics, is blood thicker than oil? In the case of the Bush administration, it's a definite maybe. Early in his administration, President George W Bush has been forced back into the swampy realm of Florida politics, courtesy of...

US reserve values rise as acquisition activity declines.
April 30, 2001... US reserve values rose in the second half of 2000, despite the slow pace of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, according to Cornerstone Ventures LP's latest report. US oil and gas M&A transactions that dosed during 2000 were worth a...

Oil and gas firms make earnings, production gains.
April 30, 2001... A number of major oil and gas companies, while amassing even greater size through recent mergers, continue to boast gains in both earnings and production volumes this year. In turn, some of these firms are using funds gained by sustained high...

Former NTSB head to act as safety advisor for Colonial Pipeline.
April 30, 2001... Former National Transportation Safety Board member and Chairman Jim Hall has been appointed by Colonial Pipeline Co., Atlanta, to serve in an advisory capacity on issues of safety and environmental protection. Hall was appointed to the...

Russia's running PSA tribulations.
April 30, 2001... The red thread running through the presentations made by western oil companies at the recent Russian Economic Forum in London spelled out three letters: PSA. The issue of a Russian-model production-sharing agreement was at the heart of...

Russian fiscal terms may need wider range.
April 30, 2001... Oil and gas tax reform in Russia is heading in the right direction. Further reform is needed. Canadian resource management practice offers a particularly appropriate model for application to the Russian situation. This article assesses...

US independent presses Kazakh E&D ventures.
April 30, 2001... A private Houston independent, Kazakhstan's largest acreage holder, has signed agreements that relate to exploration and exploitation on several of its own and another's blocks in the Precaspian basin. First International Oil Corp.,...

Indonesia.
April 30, 2001... ExxonMobil Corp.'s Mobil Cepu Ltd. unit planned to start production by 2003 from an oil discovery in Java. The Banyu Urip 3 well on the onshore Cepu Technical Assistance Contract in Central and East Java provinces identified more than 250...

New Zealand.
April 30, 2001... A 6,800 line km nonexclusive 2D seismic survey is under way in the deepwater part of the Taranaki basin. The survey will provide a regional grid of data including five well ties onto the shelf, said TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. ASA, Oslo....

Florida.
April 30, 2001... A horizontal well placed on production Dec. 2, 2000, at Southeast Raccoon Point field in the South Florida basin has averaged a net 400 b/d of oil through late March, said Plains Resources Inc., Houston. Company-wide production in 2000...

Equations estimate relative permeability of mixed wettability shaly sands.
April 30, 2001... New equations for estimating the relative permeability curves for both water-oil and gas-oil systems have been developed for shaly sands in mixed wettability formations of the Western Desert in Egypt. These correlations also may be used...

Personnel quality key to selection of engineering contractors.
April 30, 2001... Owners of downstream petroleum and chemical companies rank quality of key personnel as their number one consideration in choosing engineering contractors, says a recent industry study These owners also cite concerns about the ability of...

Line tests confirm ILI tool for SCC detection in gas lines.
April 30, 2001... In summer 1998, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, inspected two sections of a 914-mm (36 in.) OD gas transmission pipeline (predominantly 9.14 mm WT) using an ultrasonic liquid-coupled, crack detection in-line inspection (ILI) tool. ...

Worldwide offshore sector offers major challenges.
April 30, 2001... The long-delayed response to the oil price increase is under way Contractors report greatly increased business in long-lead items, ranging from frontend engineering and design (FEED) to offshore vessel design. The speed of recovery...

Float-over method installs large topsides off Philippines.
April 30, 2001... A float-over method was used to install the topsides on the Malampaya field's concrete gravity substructure (CGS) off the Philippines on Mar. 17, 2001. Shell Philippines Exploration BV is operator of the gas and condensate field, 50 km...

Gulf deepwater crude impacts downstream disposition.
April 30, 2001... Rapid growth in deepwater Gulf of Mexico production will seriously affect all segments of the North American oil industry in the coming years. Deepwater exploration and production, defined by the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) as...

3D laser scanning helps Chevron revamp platform.
April 30, 2001... Chevron USA Production Co. exceeded its project goals by deploying 3D laser scanning and modeling on a Gulf of Mexico platform upgrade project. The technology reduced shut-in time by more than 40%, and capital savings more than paid for...

Arctic offshore oil pipeline will move production before yearend.
April 30, 2001... In early 2000, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. successfully enlarged Seal Island, a man-made gravel island offshore Alaskan Beaufort Sea, and installed the Northstar pipeline system, the first trenched subsea oil pipeline in the Arctic. ...

New pressure calibrator.
April 30, 2001... Designed for use in hazardous environments, the PC6-IS pressure calibrator is suited for oil field use offshore and onshore. The unit promises accurately to test and calibrate pressure transducers, pressure transmitters, pressure...

System helps quantify pipe friction losses.
April 30, 2001... A new system is designed to help quantify friction losses, identify shock losses, locate damage regions, find high pressure or vacuum regions, and allow for precise planning of routing extensions to existing small diameter pipeline systems....

Serial-to-Ethernet terminal server.
April 30, 2001... The new Director TS terminal server promises the high level of configurability needed to effectively connect a wide range of legacy equipment supporting serial communications to local area networks or the internet, and the ruggedness to...

Altra Energy Technologies Inc.
April 30, 2001... Houston, has named William (Bill) Weathersby senior vice-president of professional services. He will be responsible for leading and expanding the Altra market services group, which provides an array of implementation and integration services...

Grant Geophysical Inc.
April 30, 2001... Houston, has appointed Lee Parker vice-president of technology. He will be responsible for the technical integrity of current operations, the direction of future technologies, deployment and utilization of existing assets, and the search for...

DeGolyer & MacNaughton.
April 30, 2001... Dallas, announced that Gary McGilvray has been named president. He previously was executive vice-president of the firm, responsible for the firm's Eastern Hemisphere operations. McGilvray has directed reserves studies and economic...

J.D. Fields & Co. Inc.
April 30, 2001... Houston, has announced that Jay Fields has joined its tubular sales group, relocating to the Houston corporate office from the Dallas sales office. Fields holds a BA in economics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. J.D. Fields...

Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd.
April 30, 2001... has announced that its state-of-the-art offshore fabrication facility at Ingleside, Tex., near Corpus Christi, will be operational in June 2001. The 400-acre property will include 3,600 ft of bulkhead with 45-ft water depth along the...

Lockard & White Inc.
April 30, 2001... Houston, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) have formed a strategic alliance that utilizes Petrobras' expertise and resources in Brazil and Lockard & White's experience in design, implementation, and operation of energy telecom networks...

FMC Energy Systems.
April 30, 2001... Houston, has expanded its Middle East operations by opening a wellhead equipment service center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new facility will provide a complete range of aftermarket services for wellhead equipment to customers...

Kawasaki Steel Corp. and NKK Corp.
April 30, 2001... Tokyo, jointly announced that the two firms intend to combine their entire operations. Both KSC and NKK will continue efforts to accomplish the various targets of each company's mid-term management plan, while working to realize expected...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.
April 30, 2001... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 4-20-01 [*] 4-21-00 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 38.29 32.19 6.10...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.
April 30, 2001... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Crude oil Total Comp. [2] PAD I ...

API REFINERY REPORT--APRIL 20, 2001.
April 30, 2001... API REFINERY REPORT--APRIL 20, 2001 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable District...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.
April 30, 2001... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 4-20 4-13 [1] 4-20 4-13 [1] 2001 2001 ...

OGJ GASOLINE PRICES.
April 30, 2001... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES Price Pump Pump ex tax price [*] price 4-18-01 4-18-01...

REFINED PRODUCT PRICES.
April 30, 2001... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES 4-13-01 ([cts.]/gal) Spot market product prices Motor Gasoline (Conventional-regular) New York Harbor ...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.
April 30, 2001... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 4-20-01 4-21-00 Alabama 5 3 Alaska 13 5 Arkansas 0 2...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
April 30, 2001... SMITH RIG COUNT 4-20-01 4-21-00 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 50 ...

OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT.
April 30, 2001... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT 4-20-01 [1] 4.21.00 [2] (1,000 b/d) (Crude oil and lease condensate) Alabama 27 ...

US CRUDE PRICES.
April 30, 2001... US CRUDE PRICES ($/bb1) [*] 4-20-01 Alaska-North Slope 27[degrees] 21.12 Southern Louisiana Light 26.25 California-Kern River 13[degrees] 21.75 Lost Hills...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.
April 30, 2001... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [1] 4-13-01 United Kingdom-Brent 38[degrees] 26.45 Russia-Urals 32[degrees] 24.60 Saudi light 34[degrees] 24.38...

AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*].
April 30, 2001... AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*] 4-13-01 4-6-01 Change (bcf) Producing region 238 218 20 Consuming region east 295 252 43 Consuming...

WORLD OIL SUPPLY, DEMAND.
April 23, 2001... WORLD OIL SUPPLY, DEMAND 1Q00 2Q00 3Q00 4Q00 2000 1Q01 (Million b/d) Demand OECD 47.9 46.3 47.7 48.4 47.6 49.2 Non-OECD...

IEA lowers global oil demand forecast.
April 23, 2001... How far can sagging economies drag down growth in oil demand? IEA again has lowered its estimate of global oil demand growth, for the fifth month running. In its April oil market report, IEA lowers its estimate of worldwide oil demand...

Industry Scoreboard.
April 23, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 4/23 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Latest week 4/13 average year ago [1] change Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline 8,540 8,231 ...

LIBYA HAS TAKEN THE TOP SPOT IN THE E&P PROSPECT RANKINGS.
April 23, 2001... Libya scored the highest this year as the most popular country for new exploration, development, and production ventures, with Iran claiming second place. These are the findings of Robertson Research International, Llandudno, UK, after...

US CRUDE AND PRODUCTS IMPORTS SET A RECORD IN THE FIRST QUARTER, API said.
April 23, 2001... It said imports were 11.6 million b/d for the quarter, 12% higher than year-ago levels and equal to 59% of US petroleum deliveries. More than half of the year-to-year, 1.3 million b/d increase in imports was in the form of crude oil,...

NORWAY'S OIL INDUSTRY.
April 23, 2001... NORWAY'S OIL INDUSTRY CLAIMS THAT A PROPOSED TAX CHANGE WILL UNDERMINE NEW OFFSHORE FIELD DEVELOPMENT. The deputy director general of the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) this month called for the country's Ministry of Finance to...

DEMOCRAT SENATORS.
April 23, 2001... DEMOCRAT SENATORS ARE ASKING THE US GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE TO INVESTIGATE FERC'S ROLE IN OVERSEEING NATURAL GAS AND POWER PRICES. Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) asked GAO to conduct an investigation of FERC's...

SHELL TAKES CENTER STAGETHIS WEEK IN GAS PROCESSING NEWS.
April 23, 2001... Shell Gas & Power, Royal Dutch/Shell's gas and power arm, said it is rolling out two further studies into the international investment potential of GTL projects using its proprietary middle distillate synthesis (SMDS) process. The...

Shell India.
April 23, 2001... Meanwhile, Shell India reported that its plans tar a 5 million tonne/year LNG terminal and port at Hazira, India, moved ahead this month when the company received Ministry of Environment & Forests clearance for the project. As part of larger...

EGPC and Edison International.
April 23, 2001... In other gas processing action, BG advanced plans for an integrated LNG export project in Egypt with the signing of a commercial agreement with EGPC and Edison International. The project will involve development of discovered, uncontracted...

Syntroleum.
April 23, 2001... Syntroleum said it awarded a $215.4 million operating and maintenance contract to a JV of PGS Production Services and dough Engineering for the 10,000 b/d Sweetwater GTL plant in western Australia. PGS and Clough are to provide complete...

THAI SHELL E&P HAS BOOSTED ITS PETROLEUM RESERVES AT SIRIKIT FIELD.
April 23, 2001... Thai Shell E&P has increased its estimated petroleum reserves through secondary recovery techniques and exploration success. Thai Shell increased reserves in Greater Sirikit field--in the northern province of Kamphaeng Phet--as of Dec. 31...