The Oil and Gas Journal articles from August 1998

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from August 1998

Newsletter.ugust 31/y'98/?n35
August 31, 1998... Fueled by a General Accounting Office report concluding that a royalty in kind program is infeasible, the war of words rages on among the oil industry, MMS, and other interested parties (see Editorial, p. 17). The most recent salvos were...

U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 8/31.(Illustration)
August 31, 1998... U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 8/31 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Latest week 8/21 average year [ago.sup.*] change Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline 8,624 ...

Fear vs. fact: a Texas parable.
August 31, 1998... Costs for building oil and gas pipelines in North America are creeping ahead, as this year's Pipeline Economics Report (p. 33) makes clear. Among the reasons are companies' increased efforts to protect workers and the environment, which have...

GAO'S errant jab.(General Accounting Office)(Editorial)
August 31, 1998... A new General Accounting Office report takes an errant jab at suggestions that the U.S. government collect oil and gas royalties in kind. In what will likely prove to be its pivotal finding, the GAO report said, "It would not be feasible for...

North Slope's exploration revival targeting satellites near giants.
August 31, 1998... A revival of exploration interest and activity on Alaska's North Slope centers around a string of satellite discoveries. As in the North Sea, low-cost development of satellite finds near existing giant fields points to the maturing of the...

Legislation eyed for ANWR seismic surveys.(Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)
August 31, 1998... U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alas.) is considering introducing a bill to require the government to conduct 3D seismic testing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's Coastal Plain. The issue arose at a recent Senate energy committee hearing...

Deep water biggest draw in gulf lease sale.
August 31, 1998... Oil companies have again bid heavily for deepwater tracts in the latest Gulf of Mexico lease sale. In Lease Sale 171 in the western Gulf of Mexico, 63 operators submitted 486 bids on 3,778 blocks. The bids exposed a total of $741,855,047....

ONS conference assesses 'green' energy needs.(offshore northern seas)
August 31, 1998... The global energy industry will continue to be dominated by fossil fuels for the next 25 years, but the world's growing population and energy demand present huge challenges. Delegates attending the Offshore Northern Seas conference in...

Norway and U.K. sign pipeline treaties.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... The governments of Norway and the U.K. have signed two pipeline treaties intended to improve cooperation in offshore projects that cross the median line between the two countries. One is a new framework agreement designed to enable Norwegian...

Renewables join U.K. open market.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Forty renewable power generators in the U.K. have secured commercial supply contracts in the open market for when their government aid runs out. The U.K. government has set a target for 10% of all U.K. electricity generation to come from...

NGOs foresee better business ethics.(non-governmental organizations)
August 31, 1998... Petroleum companies increasingly find they are expected to behave in foreign countries just as well as they do at home. A major headache for international operators is conflict with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), most of which think...

World's pipeline industry, while safe and reliable, must learn to cope with change.(Transcript)
August 31, 1998... Robert J. Reid President Canadian Mainline, TransCanada Energy Transmission Ltd. Calgary The following is based on keynote remarks made to the 1998 international Pipeline Conference, Calgary, June 7-11. Well into the next millennium,...

Indian state-owned refiner.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Indian state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) will build a 1.8 million metric ton/year naphtha cracker in Tamil Nadu at a cost of $1.65 billion. The project will be executed in partnership with an as yet unidentified...

The board of directors.(Barrington Petroleum not interested in takeover offer)(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... The board of directors of Barrington Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, issued a directors' circular recommending rejection of Sunoma Energy Corp.'s recent takeover offer (OGJ, Aug. 24,1998, p. 34). The board sought financial advice from Nesbitt Burns...

EEX Corp.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... EEX Corp., Houston, agreed to trade its Permian basin properties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico for the shallow-water properties of Birmingham, Ala.-based Energen Resources Corp. In addition to the shelf properties off Texas and...

ARCO.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... ARCO closed its acquisition of half of Dallas-based Triton Energy Ltd.'s 50% interest in Block A18 in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (OGJ, July 27, 1998, p.36).

Total Guinee Equatoriale.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Total Guinee Equatoriale, an 80%-owned Total subsidiary, acquired several state oil assets in Equatorial Guinea. The assets were previously owned equally by Total and the government. They include two oil terminals, three products depots, and 16...

Remington Energy Ltd.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Remington Energy Ltd., Calgary, acquired for $127.5 million (Canadian) interests in the West Stoddart and Red Creek oil and gas properties near Fort St. John, B.C., from its partner in the operations, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNR). CNR...

Partners in Venezuela's.(Sincor oil project)(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Partners in Venezuela's Sincor heavy oil project signed a $1.2 billion financing agreement with a New York banking syndicate in support of the $3.6 billion project to produce, upgrade, and market extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco oil belt...

Syncrude Canada Ltd.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Syncrude Canada Ltd. recommissioned a damaged coking unit at its oilsands plant near Fort McMurray, Alta., and resumed production of about 230,000 b/d of synthetic crude. The coker shutdown cut Syncrude's 1998 production estimate to 77.5...

Trans Mountain Pipe Lines Ltd.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Trans Mountain Pipe Lines Ltd. filed an application with Alberta regulators for a $440 million (Canadian) oilsands dual pipeline project. It would build the line for Shell Canada Ltd. and BHP Petroleum Canada Inc. to serve the proposed $1...

Petro-Canada.
August 31, 1998... Petro-Canada, Calgary, postponed a decision on whether to build a proposed 20,000 b/d, $220 million (Canadian) oilsands plant north of Fort McMurray. The company said low oil prices delayed the decision on the McKay River oilsands development...

Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP).(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) let contract to Baker Oil Tools, Houston, for monobore completions for the first 12 wells of SOEP, which will comprise Phase 1 of the Sable Island gas fields development off eastern Canada. The completion...

A Superior Court judge.(Vintage Petroleum case)(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... A Superior Court judge found Vintage Petroleum Inc., Tulsa, responsible for the deaths of three workers killed by poisonous gases encountered while they were converting an idled producing well to one for solid waste disposal (OGJ, Aug. 22,...

Cultus Petroleum NL.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Cultus Petroleum NL, Gordon, Australia, completed a cased-hole wire line test of appraisal well Tenacious West 1 on Permit AC/P4 in the Timor Sea, recovering 19.5 1. of 4940 gravity oil plus solution gas at 2,753 m from the top of the primary...

A private consortium.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... A private consortium is commissioning the 700-MW Samalayuca II power plant at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The plant is owned by GE Power Systems, GE Capital Structured Finance Group, El Paso Energy International, InterGen (a joint venture of Bechtel...

Conoco (U.K.) Ltd.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. encountered a significant oil and gas column with a wildcat drilled in U.K's West of Shetland offshore area, according to license partner British-Borneo Petroleum Syndicate plc, London. British-Borneo said the 204/14-1 well...

Unocal Indonesia Ltd.'s.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Unocal Indonesia Ltd.'s West Seno 2 deepwater discovery well in Kutei basin off Indonesia flowed 10,069 b/d of 39[degrees] gravity oil and 9.5 MMcfd of gas through a 1 1/2-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 830 psi. The well tested an...

BG plc.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... BG plc and Texaco Inc. made a "significant" gas/condensate discovery on Block 5a in the East Coast Marine Area off Trinidad. Dolphin Deep 1 discovery well, operated by BG, is about 60 miles off Galeota Point, Trinidad, in 650 ft of water. The...

Unocal Corp.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Unocal Corp. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd., Tokyo, agreed to acquire from Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production plc (Pttep) a 20% stake in three gas-prospective blocks-B14, B15, and B16--adjacent to the Thai-Vietnamese boundary in the...

Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) agreed to form a joint venture to explore a 15,400 sq km block southeast of the Zhu Jiang River estuary off China's Guangdong Province. The venture--the first...

Repsol.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Repsol acquired National Gaz, a Moroccan butane distributor with a 30% market share in northeastern Morocco (mainly Oujda, Nador, and Fez). The company's 1997 turnover was more than 1 billion pesetas. Repsol is reportedly negotiating with other...

A group of seven.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... A group of seven Alberta natural gas producers, led by Paramount Resources Ltd., Calgary, agreed to acquire Pan-Alberta Gas Ltd., the gas brokerage unit of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, for $5 million (Canadian). The sale would turn...

Canada's National Energy Board.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Canada's National Energy Board approved routing for an extension of the Trans Quebec & Maritimes Pipeline from Lachenaie, Que., to the Canada-U.S. border near East Hereford, Que. The 132-mile extension arid associated facilities will connect...

Iraq and Syria.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding to restore and return to service an oil pipeline between northern Iraq and Syria's Mediterranean port of Baniyas. The pipeline was last in service in 1982. A restart date has not been set.

Midcoast Energy Resources Inc.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Midcoast Energy Resources Inc., Houston, entered a definitive agreement to purchase El Paso Field Services Co.'s Anadarko pipeline system in Oklahoma and Texas for about $35 million. The system comprises more than 696 miles of 16-in. and 20-in,...

Chinese firm.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... Chinese firm Concord Oil & Petrochemicals Ltd. let a $300 million contract to Samsung Engineering Co., Seoul, to construct a refinery at Ningbo, China. Samsung will provide engineering, procurement, and construction on a turnkey basis. Included...

Fall agenda.
August 31, 1998... This hasn't been a busy year for oil issues in Washington, D.C., and fall will be no different. The hottest issue for oil lobbyists continues to be the Minerals Management Service's pending royalty reform rule (OGJ, Aug. 10, 1998, p. 26)....

Study predicts decontrol to cut electric cost 14%.(Brief Article)
August 31, 1998... The American Gas Association reports that U.S. electric industry restructuring will result in an average decrease of 14% in real electricity prices by 2015. The AGA study projected electricity prices (residential, commercial, industrial) to...

Refined product demand outrunning U.S. capacity.(Industry Overview)
August 31, 1998... Terrence S. Higgins is the technical director of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. He over 25 years of experience in analysis, planning, economics, and blending of petroleum products. He has served in various fuel-related...

Performance index provides engineers with tool to select PDM, track performance.
August 31, 1998... G. Robello Samuel is a principal technologist II with EnerTech of Landmark Graphics in Houston. Samuel holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Madurai, India and has an MS in mechanical engineering from the College of...

Tires fuel oil field cement manufacturing.
August 31, 1998... Bill Caveny is a cement quality] advisor and principal chemist at the Halliburton Energy Services Inc. technology center in Duncan, Okla. He has or for Halliburton as a chemist/microscopist/troubleshooter since 1977. Caveny holds a BS...

New temperature transmitter.
August 31, 1998... The Moore 343 temperature transmitter is a new member of the XTC family of smart process measurement instruments. The 343 is a microprocessor based, two wire transmitter. Accuracy is 0.05% of reading, coupled with HART programmable...

Shroud protects air-cooled probe.
August 31, 1998... The new Model 022 air cooled probe shroud allows the use of standard borescopes in high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive environments. The probe shroud has a hermetically sealed sapphire window, which is noble metal brazed to 300...

Shore to ship message ability.
August 31, 1998... Shore based Internet users are offered a way to send shore to ship messages to Inmarsat-A or B terminals. Internet users can now communicate from home, the office, or any land location to Inmarsat-A or B mobile terminals via the Inmarsat...

Engineered approach to scale removal.
August 31, 1998... The new Scale Blaster service provides downhole scale removal. The scale removal system, coiled tubing conveyed, uses fluid jetting and abrasive jetting. It offers cleaning of tubing jewelry (gas lift mandrels, sub-sea safety valves), through...

India to seek bids for eight coalbed methane blocks.
August 31, 1998... India's petroleum ministry has decided to offer eight exploration blocks in the first round of bidding for coalbed methane in December 1998. Most of these blocks are located in the eastern state of Bihar, while some are in the coal-bearing...

India moves to launch long awaited licensing.
August 31, 1998... India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is set to tie up with a consortium formed by Shell and Petrobras to undertake deepwater exploration off India. The new combine will participate in the first round of bidding for deepwater blocks. ONGC...

Galveston Bay production climb continues.
August 31, 1998... Gas, condensate, and oil production are growing in Galveston and Trinity Bays off Texas. TransTexas Gas Corp., Houston, and Vintage Petroleum Inc., Tulsa, are pressing exploration and development activities there (see map, OGJ, Aug. 11,...

Mobil-Ocean press action off Equatorial Guinea.
August 31, 1998... Mobil Corp. and Ocean Energy Inc. plan to ramp up exploration and production on Block B off Equatorial Guinea. Four wildcats are to be drilling by yearend. The firms have notched seven commercial oil discoveries out of 16 wildcats drilled...

Libyan Sirte field to start up next year.
August 31, 1998... International Petroleum Libya Ltd. plans to start production in 1999 from En Naga North field in the southwestern Sirte basin of Libya. IPL, a unit of Red Sea Oil Corp., and Lundin Oil AB, Stockholm, spudded one of two planned appraisal...

Correction.
August 31, 1998... Errors appeared on illustrations in the article titled, Mesozoic basins of eastern N. America: Exploration target whose time has come (OGJ, July 20, 1998, p. 94). On Fig. 1 the area shown as Norfolk basin should be the Baltimore Canyon, and...

Algeria.
August 31, 1998... Sonatrach "obtained research and exploration permits" for four areas in Tamanrasset Province of far southern Algeria, OPEC News Agency reported. The areas are Bezane 18,365 sq kin, Am Salah 172,724 sq km, Zerafa 22,900 sq kin, and Aoulef,...

Cameroon.
August 31, 1998... Ocelot Energy Inc., Calgary, plans to conduct a feasibility study of a gas to power project involving Sanaga Sud gas field off southern Cameroon. Ocelot signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with state firm SNH to develop...

China.
August 31, 1998... XCL Ltd., Lafayette, La., signed a production sharing contract with China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp. to appraise and develop the Zhang Dong Block in Bohai Bay shallows. Dagang Gilfield Group Ltd., a unit of China...

Cuba.
August 31, 1998... Genoil Inc., Calgary, restructured its Cuban portfolio and now holds interests in about 3.8 million net acres onshore. Genoil sold its interest in offshore blocks V, VI, and VII, acquired a 70% interest from MacDonald Oil Exploration Ltd. in...

Guatemala.
August 31, 1998... Enterprise Development Corp., Calgary, said it tested the highest gravity oil produced in the country upon re-entering a well in the South Peten basin. Las Casas 1X, on the company' s 100% owned 300,000 acre concession, flowed 43[degrees]...

Alabama.
August 31, 1998... Legacy Resources Co. LP, Metairie, La., is building shallow Miocene gas production in Mobile Bay in a joint venture with Exxon. Legacy recently set casing at its fourth Miocene wildcat in the bay, 4 S.L. 615, on Tract 78, with TD at 1,675 ft,...

Louisiana.
August 31, 1998... Kestrel Resources Inc., Dallas, completed a discovery at a re-entry 3 miles northwest of Eloi Bay field in St. Bernard Parish. The 1 Lake Eugenie Land & Development Inc., in 32-14s-18e, flowed 2.836 MMcfd of gas, 4 b/d of 41.2[degrees]...

Mississippi.
August 31, 1998... Benz Energy Ltd., Houston, said an exploratory well in Wayne County is an indicated discovery. Logs indicated 68 ft of apparent pay in three pay zones at 14,962-15,150 ft at the 1 Board of Education 16-12, in 16-8n-9w, Wausau prospect,...

Montana.
August 31, 1998... Enron Oil & Gas Co. plans to drill a horizontal test to Devonian Nisku on the Sweetgrass arch. Within 1 mile north of an inactive 1985 Nisku discovery, the 1-16H Short Creek, in 16-35n-le, Toole County, is to have a 2,600 ft north-northeast...

Oklahoma.
August 31, 1998... Quintin Little Co., Ardmore, is exploring around the flanks of Cumberland oil and gas field with horizontal and directional wells in the Ardmore basin. The company applied for approval to drill in 29-5s-7e, Marshall County, near the Johnston...

Texas.
August 31, 1998... South Union Pacific Resources Group gauged gas from a horizontal well in the western extension of the Austin chalk trend in Webb County. The 1 Habanero, 10 miles southeast of Melinda Mag field, flowed 4.2-15.0 MMcfd of gas with 6,500-3,500...

Colorado.
August 31, 1998... Raydon Exploration Inc., Oklahoma City, staked a remote wildcat in southeastern Colorado. The 1 Reed, in 23-27s-46w, Prowers County, is projected to 6,000 ft or Mississippian. The site is 12 miles south-southwest of Barrel Springs gas...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.
August 31, 1998... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline [Blending.sup.+] Crude oil Total [Comp.sup.+] ...

API REFINERY REPORT--AUGUST 21, 1998.
August 31, 1998... API REFINERY REPORT--AUGUST 21, 1998 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude District ...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.
August 31, 1998... OGJ CRACK SPREAD [8-21-98.sup.*] [8-22-97.sup.*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 15.85 ...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
August 31, 1998... SMITH RIG COUNT 8-21-98 8-22-97 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) Count [footage.sup.*] count [footage.sup.*] 0-2,500 ...

AGA NATURAL GAS [STORAGE.sup.*].
August 31, 1998... AGA NATURAL GAS [STORAGE.sup.*] 08-14-98 8-7-98 Change (bcf) Producing region 780 751 29 Consuming region east 1,413 1,373 40 Consuming region...

Weather, construction inflation could squeeze North American pipelines.
August 31, 1998... Major North American interstate and interprovincial pipeline companies appear headed for a squeeze near-term: 1997 earnings from operations were down for the second straight year even as the companies expected new construction to begin this...

Norway and U.K. sign pipeline treaties
August 31, 1998... The governments of Norway and the U.K. have signed to pipeline treaties intended to improve cooperation in offshore projects that cross the median line between the tow countries. One is a new framework agreement designed to enable Norwegian...

Renewables join U.K. open market
August 31, 1998... Forty renewable power generators in the U.K. have secured commercial supply contracts in the open market for when their government aid runs out. The U.K. government has set a target for 10% of all U.K. electricity generation to come from...

Indian state-owned refiner
August 31, 1998... Indian state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) will build a 1.8 million metric ton/year naphtha cracker in Tamil Nadu at a cost of $1.65 billion. The project will be executed in partnership with an as yet unidentified...

The board of directors
August 31, 1998... The board of directors of Barrington Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, issued a directors' circular recommending rejection of Sunoma Energy Corp.'s recent takeover offer (OGJ, Aug. 24,1998, p. 34). The board sought financial advice from Nesbitt Burns...

Novus Petroleum Ltd.
August 31, 1998... Novus Petroleum Ltd., Sydney, plans to sell virtually all its Western Australian exploration and production assets only a year after buying into the portfolio. Estimated to be worth $80 million (Australian), the sale is likely to draw...

EEX Corp.
August 31, 1998... EEX Corp., Houston, agreed to trade its Permian basin properties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico for the shallow-water properties of Birmingham, Ala.-based Energen Resources Corp. In addition to the shelf properties off Texas and...

Remington Energy Ltd.
August 31, 1998... Remington Energy Ltd., Calgary, acquired for $127.5 million (Canadian) interests in the West Stoddart and Red Creek oil and gas properties near Fort St. John, B.C., from its partner in the operations, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNR). CNR...

Trans Mountain Pipe Lines Ltd.
August 31, 1998... Trans Mountain Pipe Lines Ltd. filed an application with Alberta regulators for a $440 million (Canadian) oilsands dual pipeline project. It would build the line for Shell Canada Ltd. and BHP Petroleum Canada Inc. to serve the proposed $1...

Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP)
August 31, 1998... Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) let contract to Baker Oil Tools, Houston, for monobore completions for the first 12 wells of SOEP, which will comprise Phase 1 of the Sable Island gas fields development off eastern Canada. The completion...

A Superior Court judge
August 31, 1998... A Superior Court judge found Vintage Petroleum Inc., Tulsa, responsible for the deaths of three workers killed by poisonous gases encountered while they were converting an idled producing well to one for solid waste disposal (OGJ, Aug. 22,...

Cultus Petroleum NL
August 31, 1998... Cultus Petroleum NL, Gordon, Australia, completed a cased-hole wire line test of appraisal well Tenacious West 1 on Permit AC/P4 in the Timor Sea, recovering 19.5 1. of 4940 gravity oil plus solution gas at 2,753 m from the top of the primary...

Chinese Petroleum Corp.
August 31, 1998... Chinese Petroleum Corp. and Ho Tung Chemical Corp. are studying a joint plan to supply petroleum products to China. Under the proposed scheme, CPC will sell its products to Chinese firms, while Ho Tung will build and operate storage facilities....

Conoco (U.K.) Ltd.
August 31, 1998... Conoco (U.K.) Ltd. encountered a significant oil and gas column with a wildcat drilled in U.K's West of Shetland offshore area, according to license partner British-Borneo Petroleum Syndicate plc, London. British-Borneo said the 204/14-1 well...

Unocal Indonesia Ltd.'s
August 31, 1998... Unocal Indonesia Ltd.'s West Seno 2 deepwater discovery well in Kutei basin off Indonesia flowed 10,069 b/d of 39[degrees] gravity oil and 9.5 MMcfd of gas through a 1 1/2-in. choke with flowing tubing pressure of 830 psi. The well tested an...