The Oil and Gas Journal articles from December 2001

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from December 2001

OGJ Newsletter.
December 3, 2001... Market Movement Speculation continues over Russia's oil output Oil prices experienced a roller coaster ride last week amid speculation about Russian oil output along with a sequence of events that rocked Houston-based trading giant...

Industry Scoreboard.
December 3, 2001... Industry Scoreboard US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 12/3 Demand, 1,000 b/d 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. Change, YTD Latest week 11/23 average year ago(1) % average (1) Motor gasoline 8,876...

Deepwater Drilling Activity. (Industry Trends).
December 3, 2001... DEEP WATER DRILLING ACTIVITY is increasing in the Gulf of Mexico. The US MMS reported 277 deepwater wells were drilled in fiscal year 2001 vs. 226 drilled for the previous year (see table). Meanwhile, the agency's count of rigs working...

The Average US well Depth. (Industry Trends).
December 3, 2001... THE AVERAGE US WELL DEPTH has increased nearly 40% since 1980. Raymond James & Associates said 2001 will record the most significant single-year increase in average drilling depth that the US has ever experienced. "We expect average...

US Congressional Republican Leaders. (Government Developments).
December 3, 2001... US CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICAN LEADERS last week criticized Senate Democrats for delaying floor debate on energy reform legislation until next month. They vowed not to give up efforts to attach their bill to other pending legislation. "Energy...

Sebastiao Rego Barros. (Government Developments).
December 3, 2001... SEBASTIAO REGO BARROS--currently Brazil's ambassador to Argentina--was appointed last month to executive director of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP). Barros replaces former ANP executive director David Zylberstajn, who was named head...

The Partial Privatization. (Government Developments).
December 3, 2001... THE PARTIAL PRIVATIZATION of Thai state-owned oil and gas firm PTT PLC--formerly known as Petroleum Authority of Thailand--sparked strong local and overseas demand for its shares. Demand from foreign institutional investors was five times...

Caspion Oil. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... CASPIAN OIL has begun flowing through the 900-mile, $2.65 billion Caspian Pipeline Co. (CPC) export pipeline from Tengiz and other oil fields in western Kazakhstan to a new terminal on the Black Sea near Novorossiysk, Russia. The terminal has...

ExxonMobile and TotalFinaElf. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... Elsewhere on the pipeline front, product deliveries have resumed following resolution of a 12-day pipeline strike at Marseille, France. A blockade of the port, begun in mid-November after talks failed, prevented about 40 oil tankers and cargo...

Innovations. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... INNOVATIONS and a plant shutdown take center stage in refinery developments this week. Statoil has introduced a process to convert gas, which previously would have been flared, into propylene, a raw material for plastics production. The...

BP. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... BP said the first commercial unit to use its proprietary OATS gasoline desulfurization technology has come on stream. The process is based on catalytic conversion of thiophenes into high boiling compounds that can be readily removed from the...

Crown Central Petroleum. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... On a less positive note, Crown Central Petroleum is investigating the cause of a fire last week at its 100,000 b/d refinery on the Houston Ship Channel at Pasadena, Tex. Crown said the fire occurred while LPG was being transferred from a...

Saudi Aramco. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... SAUDI ARAMCO awarded Halliburton's Energy Services Group a contract for $140 million of development work at Qatif field in eastern Saudi Arabia. The initial scope of the 3-year project will be to drill oil and water wells, using drilling...

Statoil's. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... Statoil's Byford Dolphin drilling rig is once again under tow in the Norwegian Sea after being adrift for over 24 hours Nov. 22-23 in foul weather and heavy seas 140 miles off the northern Norwegian coast (OGJ Online, Nov. 22, 2001). No losses...

Kerr-McGee. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... KERR-MCGEE made an oil and gas discovery on Block 05/36 in China's Bohai Bay that tested 6,049 boe/d of light oil and gas from five drilistem tests. CFD 12-1S-1 well had more than 215 ft of hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Dongying,...

Cairn Energy. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... Cairn Energy has a second discovery on Block RJ-ON-90/ 1 in Rajasthan, western India. RJ-H-1 well is 50 km north of the Guda-2 oil discovery drilled in 1999. RJ-H-l was drilled to 1,837 m MD and found several hydrocarbon-bearing units below...

Repsol-YPF. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... A unit of Repsol-YPF has a gas and condensate discovery at its Sungai Kenawang well on Jambi Merang Block in Sumatra, Indonesia. The well was drilled to 2,580 m TD and found a 124 m gas and condensate column in the Baturaja. On test, the well...

Wind Power. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... WIND POWER projects are growing in the US, Canada, and Chile. SeaWest WindPower has developed and constructed 50 one-megawatt wind turbines at Foote Creek Rim, Wyo., for Rock River I, a subsidiary of Shell WindEnergy. Construction was...

Bonneville Power Administration. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... The Department of Energy's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), and SeaWest WindPower, have executed an agreement by which BPA will purchase and market, over a 20-year period, the entire output of power from a wind energy project SeaWest is...

PSEG Energy Technologies. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... PSEG Energy Technologies Chairman and CEO E. James Ferland inaugurated the Central Eolica Alto Baguales wind turbine project in Coyhaique, Chile Nov. 14. The project uses state-of-the-art wind turbine technology to provide more than 16% of the...

Suncor Energy Alternative & Renewable Development. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... Suncor Energy Alternative & Renewable Development, a division of Sunoco, will work with NA Renewables Canada, a North American subsidiary of EHN, to develop wind power projects in Canada. The JY, SunNar, will employ EHN's tecimological...

American Electric Power. (Quick Takes).
December 3, 2001... American Electric Power (AEP) has completed the fourth-largest wind farm now operating in he US, the 150 Mw Trent Mesa Wind Project near Abilene, Tex., which began commercial operation last summer. AEP developed and owns the $160 million wind...

Consolidation trend continues. (Journally Speaking).
December 3, 2001... The planned merger of Houston-based Conoco Inc., and Phillips Petroleum Co. of Bartlesville, Okla.--valued at $35 billion--extends the past few years' trend of consolidation and megamergers. The table below offers a glimpse of most of the...

The blame for oil prices. (Editorial).
December 3, 2001... The most valid insights about oil prices to emerge recently come not from the world's most important exporters, not from the world's single largest oil market, but from motorists in Europe. Everyone everywhere wants to blame someone else...

OPEC-consumer cooperation needed ensure adequate future oil supply. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... In assessing the prospects for the continued ability of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to meet future oil demand, it is necessary to present the concept of oil production capacity as a multidisciplinary subject. Thus it...

Weak Asian economy may drag down global oil demand. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... Asia--and in particular, Japan and China--is pivotal to global oil demand, and Asia's economy was weak before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US rocked the overall world economy said Fereidun Fesharaki, a senior fellow at the...

CERI: Canadian gas producers' plans hinge on supply. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... The continuously shifting dynamics between supply of and demand for natural gas in North America have a number of Canadian producers rethinking their exploration and development plans. This was one of the major findings in a survey of...

Looking ahead. (WATCHING GOVERNMENT).
December 3, 2001... U S natural gas utilities want to keep research money flowing after the government phases out a pipeline surcharge program that expires in 2005. Speaking for the American Gas Association, Craig Matthews, vice-chairman and chief operating...

Greenspan: Energy industry needs R&D focus. (WATCHING GOVERNMENT).
December 3, 2001... Technology has transformed the energy industry but incremental improvements will require massive long-term investment in research and development, US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan said. Greenspan discussed US energy supplies...

Sticks or carrots? (WATCHING THE WORLD).
December 3, 2001... The European Union is the world's largest energy importer and the world's second largest energy consumer. It is importing more and more energy from beyond its borders. The figure today is around 50%, but it could rise to 70% in 20 years....

US Senate defers energy reform legislation until 2002. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... Energy reform legislation will not be on the US Senate's legislative agenda until January, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said late last month. Daschle said there was not enough time to debate a bill, because lawmakers must...

Majors vie for share of Persian Gulf's Dolphin gas project. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... Five companies--BP PLC, Chevron-Texaco Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., and Royal Dutch/Shell Group--have until yearend to bid close to $1 billion to replace Houston-based Enron Corp. as holder of a 24.5% stake in the...

Banks, reserves buyers agree on future oil, gas prices. (GENERAL INTEREST).
December 3, 2001... For the first time in 6 quarters, there is consensus on near and midterm expectations for oil and natural gas prices between Houston energy banks and the active middle market of companies acquiring reserves. That is indicated by the price...

Veritas, PGS to merge in multimillion dollar stock deal. (COMPANY NEWS).
December 3, 2001... Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS), Oslo, and Veritas DGC Inc., Houston, have agreed to merge in a $772 million stock deal that will create the world's second-largest geophysical services company, offering 400,000 km of 3D seismic data. The...

API elects oil major executives to leadership positions. (PERSONNEL MOVES AND PROMOTIONS).
December 3, 2001... The American Petroleum Institute has elected two major oil company executives to leadership positions in the organization. ExxonMobil Corp. Chairman and CEO Lee R. Raymond has been elected to a 1-year term as API's chairman effective Jan....

Rocky Mountain Giants--1: Rockies dominates US onshore in 'discovery' of 1990s giants. (EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT).
December 3, 2001... As a result of new technology, the Greater Rocky Mountain Region (GRMR) has been the home to more giant fields "discovered" in the last 10 years than any other major US onshore province. What's more, it is one of only two provinces that...

Cairn Energy Pty. Ltd. (India).
December 3, 2001... Cairn Energy Pty. Ltd. and Shell India Development Production BV reported a second discovery on Block RJ-ON-90/ 1 in the Barmer district of Rajasthan. Cumulative stabilized flow rate was 2,075 b/d of 41-42[degrees] gravity oil from several...

Lapindo Brantas Inc. (Indonesia).
December 3, 2001... Lapindo Brantas Inc., a unit of the Indonesian Bakrie conglomerate, has a gas discovery in the Brantas production-sharing contract in East Java, said 50% PSC partner Novus Petroleum Ltd., Sydney Tanggulangin-1 is the first of three wells in...

Shell Petroleum Development Co. (Nigeria).
December 3, 2001... Shell Petroleum Development Co. is boosting production and reserves at Forcados Yokri in the western Niger Delta, the largest field the company operates. Estimated ultimate recovery exceeds 1.6 billion bbl of oil. Team exercises as part of...

Canadian Superior Energy Inc. (Nova Scotia).
December 3, 2001... Canadian Superior Energy Inc., Calgary, started $400,000 in site work in preparation to drill a deep Jurassic Abenaki reef prospect on the Scotian shelf in early 2002. The Marquis prospect is in 330 ft of water 20 miles northeast of giant...

Rig concept fills gap between light-mobile and heavy-stationary rigs. (DRILLING & PRODUCTION).
December 3, 2001... Workovers in deep directional gas wells push the limits of mobile rig capabilities. Sufficient rig capacity is not always available to perform the work safely. ITAG Tiefbohr GMBH & Co. KG of Celle, Germany, has built and operated ITAG Rig...

Optimizing FCC regenerator can minimize catalyst losses. (PROCESSING).
December 3, 2001... Proper regenerator bed level and cyclone operation are important to ensure minimum catalyst losses from FCC units. Monitoring the regenerator level in relationship to the cyclone dipleg valves and transport disengaging height (TDH) is key to...

EG injection, gas plant relocation-expansion highlight offshore storage plans. (TRANSPORTATION).
December 3, 2001... Studies to expand underground natural gas storage offshore northern Spain determined the technical and economic feasibility of ethylene glycol (EG) injection to prevent hydrate formation and the relocation ashore of gas treating from the...

Private capital for oil, gas investments remains abundant while public markets sag. (Report Access to Capital).
December 3, 2001... US independent oil and gas companies seeking capital to fund their projects must turn increasingly to private equity sources. The aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US have exacerbated a squeeze on public equity capital...

US independents explore ways to finance drilling projects. (Access to Capital).
December 3, 2001... US independents are finding it tough going seeking outside financing in the wake of lower oil and gas prices and slimmer cash flows. That contrasts with the situation a year ago, when high oil and gas prices enabled exploration and...

Project finance issues threaten gas-fired power development in Brazil. (Access to Capital).
December 3, 2001... Brazil's goal of quintupling the natural gas share of its energy mix this decade hinges on its ambitious program of installing several dozen gas-fired thermal power plants throughout the country. Official projections call for gas-fired...

Statistics: API Imports of Crude and Products.
December 3, 2001... Statistics API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 11-23 11-16 (1) 11-23 2001 2001 ...

Market Movement. (Newsletter).(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Iraqi oil supply disruption inevitable? UN approval to extend the Iraqi oil-for-aid program for another 6 months would, at first glance, seem to deflate any expectations of a supply disruption. Instead, it may be just delaying the...

US Industry Scoreboard -- 12/10.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 12/10 Demand, 1,000 b/d 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. Change, YTD Latest week 11/30 average year ago % average (1) Motor gasoline 8,737 8,384 4.2 ...

The Phillips-Conoco. (Industry Trends).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... THE PHILLIPS-CONOCO merger significantly increases pressure on the remaining middle-tier major US refiner-marketers to merge or be acquired, according to Boston-based Strategy Analytics. Phillips and Conoco recently announced plans for a...

The LNG Market. (Industry Trends).(liquefied natural gas, market projection)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... THE LNG MARKET is expected to double in size over 10 years. Market research firm Emerging Markets Online outlined its prediction in a new study. EMO expects one third of the proposed market growth will come from Japan, South Korea, and...

US Federal Lease Sale 181. (Government Developments).(National Ocean Industries Association disputes Department of the Interior decision to reduce lease sale)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... US FEDERAL LEASE SALE 181, Government Developments held Dec. 5, marked a missed opportunity for industry, according to the National Ocean Industries Association. NOIA criticized an Interior Department decision made earlier this year to...

Deep Water West Africa: Sonangol and TotalFinaElf. (Quick Takes).(begins production at Girassol field)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... DEEP WATER WEST AFRICA leads off this week's production news. Girassol field has begun production in 1,350 m of water 150 km off Angola. Field development, which continues, will cost $2.8 billion. Angolan state-owned oil company...

Amerada Hess. (Quick Takes).(announces Bergesen DY Offshore completion of crude carrier upgrade)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... In addition, Amerada Hess said Bergesen DY Offshore, Oslo, has completed the upgrade of Berge Hus, a former very large crude carrier, into an EPSO called Sendje Ceiba. It will replace the Sendje Berge FPSO working on Ceiba field off...

Suncor Energy. (Quick Takes).(plans production increases)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... Topping other production news is the outlook for burgeoning oil sands output in Canada. Suncor Energy has approved capital spending of $900 million (Can.) for 2002, with most of that targeted for its oil sands business. Suncors goal is to...

PetroCanada. (Quick Takes).(plans oil sands development project and second in situ development project)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... Meanwhile, Petro-Canada has applied to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Environment for an oil sands development at Meadow Creek, Alta. Petro-Canada said the steam-assisted gravity drainage project could cost $700-800 million...

TotalFinaElf. (Quick Takes).(begins North Sea natural gas production)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... TotalFinaElf has begun producing the first of four natural gas accumulations on Block 30/19 in the UK North Sea. The accumulations that make up the field complex 400 km northeast of Aberdeen are designated N1 (North Nuggets), N2 (West Nuggets),...

Statoil. (Quick Takes).(begins production at Huldra field in Noth Sea)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Also in the North Sea, Statoil's Huldra field has begun producing gas and condensate. Huldras unmanned platform is controlled remotely from the Veslefrikk A platform 16 km away. Huldra has a simple processing plant for separating condensate and...

China Petroleum & Chemical. (China Tops Pipeline Reports this Week).(to build natural gas pipelines)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... China Petroleum & Chemical plans to build two natural gas pipelines in eastern China's Shandong province by 2005. The lines, to cost a combined 1 billion yuan ($120 million), will move 4 billion cu in/year of gas. Sinopec unit Zhongyuan Oil...

Vector Pipeline. (China Tops Pipeline Reports this Week).(China not mentioned; pipeline opened between Canada and Indiana)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Elsewhere in pipeline news, Vector Pipeline has opened the first of two Indiana gas interconnections with Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO). The 42-in, pipeline transports western Canadian gas from the Chicago market hub in Joliet,...

In Retail Marketing: Williams Cos. (Quick Takes).(Williams Companies Inc. contract with Ace Ethanol)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... IN RETAIL MARKETING, a unit of Williams Cos. has agreed to market all fuel grade ethanol produced by Ace Ethanol when its 15 million gal/year ethanol plant in Stanley, Wis., begins production in mid-2002. The Ace Ethanol relationship marked...

Construction Contracts: Azerbaijan International Oil Co. (Quick Takes).(McDermott International Inc., Bouygues Offshore, Emtunga International)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS outline plans for development of Azeri, Chirag, and Guneshli fields in the Azerbaijan section of the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan International Oil Co. recently signed six worth $750 million. bringing spending to date on...

TotalFinaElf. (Quick Takes).(TotalFinaElf Group contract with McDermott International Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Elsewhere on the development front, a TotalFinaElf subsidiary has awarded units of J. Ray McDermott International contracts worth $160 million for two gas production platforms and related pipelines to be installed off Argentina. The contracts...

Petrobras Plans. (Quick Takes).(planning to upgrade eight refineries in Brazil by 2010)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... PETROBRAS PLANS to invest a record $3.9 billion to revamp eight of its refineries in Brazil by 2010. Eider Prudente de Aquino, Petrobras's refining director, said this will be the largest capital investment in Brazil's refineries since the...

National Iranian Oil Co. (Quick Takes).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... National Iranian Oil Co. intends to expand the capacity of its 400,000 b/d Abadan refinery to 555,000 b/d by 2006. NIOC said the expansion will help it decrease heavy oil production, boost gasoline output, lower production costs, improve fuel...

An Integrated: Synthroleum. (Quick Takes).(Synthroleum planning to build a gas-to-liquid facility in Peru)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... AN INTEGRATED NGL and gas-to-liquids project is on the drawing boards for the Talara basin of northwestern Peru. Synthroleum plans to build a 2,000 b/d NGL plant to upgrade and replace an existing plant owned and operated by Electrica de...

BG Group. (Quick Takes).(increases natural gas processing capacity in La Vertiente, Bolivia)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Elsewhere in processing news, BG Group has completed an expansion and revamp of its natural gas processing plant in La Vertiente, Bolivia. The project took 10 months and cost $30 million. It increased the plant's capacity to 4.2 million cu...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 10, 2001... A deal involving the underwriting of senior notes on behalf of Newfield Exploration Co. was incorrectly attributed to Warburg Pincus LLC (OGJ, Dec. 3, 2001, p. 72). The deal was conducted by UBS Warburg LLC.

Managing data, knowledge. (Journally Speaking).(management strategies for oil, gas industry)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... The successful management of the oil and gas industry's vast data and knowledge resources is a topic receiving a lot of fanfare lately--and for good reason. Recent consolidations within the industry, among other drivers, have inundated oil...

Deregulation needs boost. (Editorial).(deregulation of electricity markets is advocated)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
December 10, 2001... The US still should deregulate electricity markets. It doesn't matter to the argument for deregulation that one of the first states to restructure its electricity business came to grief. And it doesn't matter that one of deregulation's...

SPR drawdowns trigger law of unintended consequences. (General Interest).(strategic petroleum reserves)
December 10, 2001... The US has embarked on a massive operation to weaken terrorists globally--with the support and approval of a multilateral coalition of unprecedented size and diversity. On Oct. 7, the US and the UK began military air strikes against the...

Russia offers olive branch of deeper cut to OPEC. (General Interest).(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)(oil export output cuts)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... Russia last week may have averted the possibility of a damaging market share war with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries by telling OPEC it will increase its proposed oil export output cuts to 150,000 b/d. The announcement...

US Senate Democrats last week introduced an energy bill. (General Interest).(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... US Senate Democrats last week introduced an energy bill plan they claim is more balanced than a pending re-publican proposal that passed the House last August. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said he is committed to debating a...

Favored fuel. (Watching Government).(fuel ethanol)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... It's a good time to be in the fuel ethanol business. Environmental regulators in more than a dozen US states want to ban the clean-fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether from gasoline because of groundwater contamination concerns. And...

An arranged marriage. (Watching the World).(Kvaerner ASA, Aker Maritime A.S.A., OAO Yukos)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... The recent drama involving Kvaerner AS, at 148 one of Norway's oldest and proudest companies, and OAO Yukos, Russia's second largest oil company and an aggressive and acquisitive newcomer, unfolded like a play by the greatest Norwegian...

Company News: Enron's fall sends tremors through energy industry. (General Interest).(Enron Corp. files Chapter 11 and sues Dynegy Inc.)
December 10, 2001... One-time financial and energy giant Enron Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec. 2 and sued former suitor Dynegy Inc. for $10 billion for alleged breach of contract for terminating a last-minute merger. The filing is the...

Rocky Mountain Giants-2: US Rockies 'discoveries': Analogs for the future. (Exploration & Development).(exploitable hydrocarbon resources)
December 10, 2001... An assessment of the resource pyramid appropriate for the Greater Rocky Mountain Region demonstrates a basis for predicting a large amount of potentially discoverable and exploitable hydrocarbon resources. Further evidence justifying the...

Wireless web accesses wellsite SCADA. (Drilling & Production).(BP Canada Ltd. uses wireless internet technology)(supervisory control and data acquisition)
December 10, 2001... BP Canada Ltd., a large gas well operator in Canada, installed a wireless web remotely to monitor and control wellsites in an inaccessible area so I that it could produce gas at a maximum rate with a low operating cost. Wireless internet...

MMS to require casing pressure monitoring for subsea wellheads. (Drilling & Production).(Minerals Management Service proposes new regulations for the gas and oil industry)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... The US Minerals Management Service has proposed that wells with subsea wellheads completed after Jan. 1, 2005, have the means for monitoring casing pressures. MMS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations for oil and...

Louisiana refinery retrofitted entirely with fieldbus. (Processing).(Calcasieu Real Estate and Oil Company Inc. replaced pneumatic control systems)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2001... The Calcasieu refinery at Lake Charles, La., recently replaced its pneumatic control system with a Foundation fieldbus system that uses the PlantWeb open field-based architecture. Installation took less time than the alternatives...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 10, 2001... An incorrect author photograph for Susan L. Starr appeared with her article "US gasoline-marketing margins statistics begin in this issue" (OGJ, Oct. 15, 2001, p. 46); here is the correct photograph.

Methods tested for estimating VOC losses from floating roof turnovers. (Transportation).(examination of levels of volatile organic compound left in petroleum storage tank during turnover)
December 10, 2001... A study of methods to determine the saturation level and saturation rate of organic vapors in the vapor space of floating roof tanks during tank turnover examined oxygen-combustible ([O.sub.2]/LEL) analyzers and canister sampling. Field...

Oil, gas industry makes advances in managing data, knowledge. (Special Report Managing Data & Knowledge).(companies working to retain trained employees; installing computer software to manage information)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
December 10, 2001... Oil and gas companies continue making strides in better managing both data and knowledge. Gains in managing and retaining institutional knowledge are evident amid a backdrop of some formidable challenges. These include: * A workforce fast...

Multidisciplinary teams, integrated software for shared-earth modeling key E&P success. (Managing Data & Knowledge).
December 10, 2001... Synergistic multidisciplinary teams that use advanced integrated interpretation software and project workflows are critical in the development of an accurate shared-earth model for exploration or development projects. Such a model...