The Oil and Gas Journal articles from January 2000

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from January 2000

LETTERS.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... First kerosine lamp In your Petroleum in the 21st Century issue (OGJ, Dec. 13, 1999), I found a list (see table of contents) of milestones of important events and achievements in the oil industry. I would like to call to your...

Stocks and oil prices.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... An easily overlooked number in this week's Forecast & Review special report raises important questions for the oil and gas industry (p. 44). It is the average 1 million bid of supply assumed to be available to the global market from...

Oneok-Southwest Gas merger called off.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... Southwest Gas Corp. has sued Oneok Inc. for unspecified damages after Oneok abruptly terminated a pending $1.8 billion merger between the two companies rather than risk taking on a $700 million lawsuit against Southwest Gas by rejected suitor...

MMS expanding royalty in-Kind.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... The US Minerals Management Service is expanding its oil and gas royalty in-kind pilot projects. It is testing procedures to take and sell royalty production as an alternative to the usual practice of taking a cash royalties based on the...

US firms press greenhouse gas initiatives.(Statistical Data Included)
January 31, 2000... Eventually researchers may reach a consensus as to whether catastrophic global warming is a reality, but until they do, US oil and natural gas companies are taking matters into their own hands. During the American Petroleum Institute's...

Poseidon crude oil pipeline.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... Poseidon crude oil pipeline, a 200,000 b/d system operated by Equilon Pipeline Co. on Ship Shoal Block 332 in the Gulf of Mexico, was damaged in an accident involving the 8-ton anchor of Transocean 96, a second-generation semisubmersible...

Ocean Energy Inc.(Brief Article)
January 31, 2000... Ocean Energy Inc., Houston, after reviewing its exploration program In Bangladesh, decided to discontinue operations in the country. The company said the decision, which will incur an $18 million impairment charge in fourth quarter 1999, is...

Bitech Fortum Energy Co. Ltd.
January 31, 2000... Bitech Fortum Energy Co. Ltd., signed an agreement to acquire BG North Sea Holdings Ltd.'s 50% interest in the Russian joint-stock company KomiArcticOil (KAO) for $28 million. Bitech Fortum Energy is a new company held 50-50 by Canada's...

Lyondell Chemical Co.
January 31, 2000... Lyondell Chemical Co, Houston, let two key contracts for a 125,000 tonne/year butanediol and derivatives plant to be built at its Rotterdam complex. It let a contract for construction and procurement to Kvaerner ASA and one for supply of...

Pluspetrol SA.
January 31, 2000... Pluspetrol SA, Buenos Aires, relinquished Block 8X to Perupetro. Pluspetrol won the block, formerly operated by state-owned Petroperu SA, in a mid-1996 privatization auction. Pluspetrol continues to operate Block 8, another former Petroperu...

Electricite de France (EdF).
January 31, 2000... Electric de France (EdF) let a $100 million contract to units of Foster Wheeler Corp., Clinton, NJ, to supply and erect four steam generators and auxiliary components at two planned 700-Mw power plants in Egypt. The new plants, expected to be...

Columbia Electric Corp.
January 31, 2000... Columbia Electric Corp., a unit of Columbia Energy Group, Herndon, Va., plans to install two 500-Mw natural gas-fired power plants in Henderson, Ky., and Ceredo, WV. Both plants will generate power for the Eastern Central Area Reliability...

International Petroleum Libya Ltd.
January 31, 2000... International Petroleum Libya Ltd., a unit of Vancouver, BC-based Red Sea Oil Corp., and Lundin Oil AB, Stockholm, received approval for development of En Naga North and West oil fields on Area NC117 in Libya. Production from En Naga, which...

Sunoco Inc.
January 31, 2000... Sunoco Inc., Philadelphia, performed an unplanned shutdown Jan. 20 of an 85,000 b/d crude unit at its 175000 b/d Marcus Hook, Pa., refinery due to a complication with a crude heater. Expected to last 7-14 days, the turnaround is not expected...

EuroGas Inc.
January 31, 2000... EuroGas Inc., London, signed an agreement with Slovgold GMBH to conduct a six-well pilot program in South Wales to test for coalbed methane. The area contains potential reserves of more than 500 bcf of gas with an original gas in place...

Hydrotesting not required under new AP1-653 procedure.
January 31, 2000... An analytical method has been developed that allows aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) to be returned to service after major repairs without a hydrostatic test. The method relies on an analysis of the repair or modification welds that...

Retrofitted hydrotreater feed filters reduce operating cost, waste handling.
January 31, 2000... Retrofitting hydrotreater-feed filters with wire-mesh filters significantly reduced the operating cost at Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s Alberta oilsands plant. It also improved the specification of solids in the coker gas-oil feed. The plant...

North Slope Alaska GTL options analyzed.
January 31, 2000... A recent study indicates that a slow paced, gas-to-liquids (GTL) scenario for developing Alaska's North Slope gas is the only option that has a rate of return greater than 10%. The December 1999 study prepared by E.P. Robertson of INEEL...

MOVES AND PROMOTIONS.
January 31, 2000... GRI, Chicago, Ill., has named Chris Duhon vice president and general manager of GRI's Pipeline Business Unit. Duhon will direct the financial, operational and administrative activities of the business unit, which serves natural gas...

FMC Corp.
January 31, 2000... FMC Corp. has reached a preliminary agreement to acquire the flow measurement business assets of Perry Equipment Corp. Smith Meter, a business unit of EMC's Energy Systems business, is a provider of liquid petroleum measurement products...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 31, 2000... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 1-21-00 [*] 1-22-99 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 34.72 13.48 21.24...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 31, 2000... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 1-21-00 1-22-99 Alabama 2 6 Alaska 6 5 Arkansas 0 3 California 20 13 ...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 31, 2000... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [1] 1-14-00 United Kingdom-Brent 38[degrees] 25.39 Russia-Urals 32[degrees] 24.99 Saudi light 34[degrees] 23.80...

SMITH RIG COUNT.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 31, 2000... SMITH RIG COUNT 1-21-00 1-22-99 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 17 - ...

Italy's ENI SPA.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... Italy's ENI SPA acquired through subsidiaries AgipPetroli, Snam SPA, and Italgas a 33.34% stake in Petroleos e Gas de Portugal (GALP) for 964 million euros ($978 million). One third of the stake was acquired from the Portuguese government and...

Newsletter.
January 24, 2000... The latest evidence that OPEC not only will hew to its pledged production cuts but even roll them over past their scheduled expiration in March has rocketed oil prices to almost $30/bbl--a level not seen since the Persian Gulf war. A...

A nontraditional role.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Tally this oil industry success story to the Phoenix Working Women evening program at Bismarck State College, Bismarck, ND: Faced with the prospect of bringing up her children on her own, Dawn Van Horn made the decision to go back to school...

The world needs more oil.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Oil traders face an interesting test. And oil producers who still think traders set the price of oil are witnessing an enlightening reassertion of market fundamentals. The market is changing rapidly. Demand continues to rise despite last...

Argentina's upstream coming out of its long holding pattern.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Argentina's upstream sector is finally coming out of a lengthy holding pattern. In recent years, exploration and development activity in Argentina had been reined by uncertainty over the prospects for natural gas export pipelines. That...

Oil price stability to revive service sector.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... An unprecedented stability in oil prices will trigger a turnaround in the oil field service industry--particularly contract drilling--says Bob Rose, chairman, president, and CEO of Global Marine Inc., Houston. At a press conference...

Land rig builders expected to see rising orders in 2000.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... The international land rig market is showing signs of a recovery from the extended industry downturn of 1998 and early 1999, if new-build orders and a rising rig count are accurate indicators. The road to recovery for builders of onshore...

El Paso Energy to purchase Coastal Corp. for 316 billion.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... El Paso Energy Corp. is acquiring Coastal Corp. for $16 billion, expanding what is already the largest gas pipeline network in the US. The Houston-based firms claimed the united company would be the world's largest gas transporter. Their...

Oil firms seek more value through mergers, outsourcing.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Oil companies are fighting to increase profitability in an industry characterized by massive consolidations, environmental pressures, and "price whiplash," says Williams Marko, a principal at Navigant Consulting, Houston. Addressing a...

Mobil Australia copes with avgas crisis.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Mobil Oil Australia Ltd., an affiliate of ExxonMobil Corp., has found itself embroiled in a public relations nightmare as a result of contamination of the aviation gasoline, or "avgas," product stream from its Altona refinery. Avgas...

Indonesia to restructure state oil firm.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has installed a new board of commissioners to oversee the restructuring of state oil company Pertamina and is seeking a new president and board of directors for the company. Abdurrahman installed...

Santa Fe Snyder sues Conoco over agreement.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Santa Fe Snyder Corp. has filed suit against Conoco Inc. alleging that Conoco breached an agreement to share the market for natural gas supplies to be transported to Singapore from Indonesia through planned subsea pipelines. In a lawsuit...

US crude oil production fell 5.6% during 1999.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... The American Petroleum Institute has reported that US oil production slid 5.6% to 5.902 million b/d in 1999, the largest annual decline in a decade. Much of the decline came in Alaska, where production averaged just over 1 million b/d, down...

MMS expands program testing royalty in-kind.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... The US Minerals Management Service plans to expand its Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf royalty in-kind (RIK) pilot program this spring. MMS is testing methods of taking its natural gas royalty in production rather than cash. ...

Energy platforms.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... None of the leading US presidential candidates seems too concerned about energy development and taxation issues. The Sustainable Energy Coalition recently summarized the candidates' views, based on their responses to questionnaires and...

Koch agrees to record $30 million fine.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Koch Industries Inc., Wichita, has agreed to pay a record civil fine for environmental violations, the US Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency said. To resolve claims related to more than 300 oil spills from its...

Erika spill prompts maritime safety review.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... The oil spill resulting from the breakup of the Erika tanker off France has, so far, affected more than 400 km of the country's coastline (OGJ, Dec. 20, 1999, p. 38). A positive development from the spill maybe the prompting of tougher marine...

Correction.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... An expansion of the Tarong power plant in Queensland, Australia, was incorrectly described as being natural gas-fired (OGJ, Jan. 3, 2000, Newsletter). The 450-Mw expansion will be fired on coal.

A crude oil pipeline in Sudan.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... A crude oil pipeline in Sudan was damaged by a bomb on Jan. 16 at a point 53 miles southwest of Port Sudan. The resulting fire was extinguished quickly, and most of the spilled oil was captured in trenches, says Talisman Energy Inc., Calgary,...

Corridor Pipeline Ltd.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Corridor Pipeline Ltd., a unit of BC Gas Inc., let contracts to Ipsco Inc., Regina, Sask., and Agra Inc. unit Midwest Management, Edmonton, for its $690 million (Can.) heavy oil pipeline project in Alberta (OGJ, Jan. 10, 2000, p. 22). Ipsco...

Chevron Canada Resources Ltd.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... Chevron Canada Resources Ltd. production-tested its M-25 natural gas well 18 km northwest of Fort Liard, NWT. At the end of a 4-day test, M-25, drilled to 3,770 m TD, flowed at a restricted rate of 28 MMcfd of gas from the Nahanni through a 3...

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. unit TransCanada International (Netherlands) BV and Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. unit Clyde Petroleum Exploratie BV made a natural gas discovery with their G17-4 exploration well in the Dutch North Sea. The well,...

Unocal Corp.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Unocal Corp. unit Spirit Energy 76 made a natural gas discovery in 240 ft of water on Ship Shoal Block 295 off Louisiana. The Muni well logged more than 450 ft of hydrocarbon pay in three zones, with indication of additional possible pay,...

Thai Oil Co.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Production resumed from Thai Oil Co.'s Sri Racha refinery following a Dec. 2 explosion and fire that killed at least six people (OGJ, Dec. 20, 1999, p. 38). Damages to the plant were assessed at 1 billion baht. Output will be 100,000 b/d...

Petroplus International NV.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Petroplus International NV, Rotterdam, agreed to acquire Royal Dutch/Shell's Cressier refinery in Switzerland for $131 million. Petroplus opened talks with Shell in mid-1999 over the possibility of purchasing the 68,000 b/d plant (OGJ, July...

Indian Oil Corp.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) let contract to Engineers India Ltd. for engineering, design, and project management of the Eastern India refinery project at Paradip in India's Orissa state. The 9 million tonne/year coastal plant will have a terminal...

Pennzoil-Quaker State Co.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., Houston, will shut down its 15,700 b/d Rouseville, Pa., refinery Jan. 31. Pennzoil will also close a packaging plant near the refinery by June, the company said. The decision to close the plants follows an...

Borealis AS.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Borealis AS, Lyngby, Denmark, plans to establish a joint venture with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. to produce polyolefins and ethylene copolymers at Borealis's 125,000 tonne/year Zwijndrecht plant near Antwerp. Under the agreement, DuPont...

Chemopetrol.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Chemopetrol, the state petrochemical company of the Czech Republic, let contract to Germany's Linde AG for the construction of a 200,000 high-density polyethylene plant at the Litvinov complex, according to Eastern Bloc Research Ltd.,...

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Co. (NLNG).(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Co. (NLNG) unit Bonny Gas Transport secured a $160 million, 10-year loan from a group of banks led by Credit Suisse First Boston. The loan will be used to cover a significant portion of the costs of two new...

Lundin Oil AB.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Lundin Oil AB, Stockholm, and Red Sea Oil Corp., Vancouver, BC, have opened merger talks. The firms' boards have agreed in principle to proceed with a combination, which will likely result in the offering of newly issued Lundin shares to Red...

Italy's ENI SPA.
January 24, 2000... Italy's ENI SPA acquired through subsidiaries AgipPetroli, Snam SPA, and Italgas a 33.34% stake in Petroleos e Gas de Portugal (GALP) for 964 million euros ($978 million). One third of the stake was acquired from the Portuguese government and...

Conoco Inc.(reports on the effects of Venezuelan flooding)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Conoco Inc. reported that its operations in Caracas and the Petrozuata heavy oil project were unaffected by the December flood in Venezuela. The company has committed $1 million in aid to the relief effort in Venezuela.

Calpine Corp.(acquires half of Missouri power plant)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Calpine Corp., San Jose, Calif., acquired a 50% interest in the 600-Mw Aries natural gas-fired power plant being built near Pleasant Hill, Mo., from Merchant Energy Partners, a unit of Aquila Energy Corp., Kansas City. The plant will start up...

AEP Resources Inc.(acquires half of Mexican power project from InterGen)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... AEP Resources Inc., a unit of American Electric Power, Columbus, Ohio, acquired from InterGen a 50% share of the 600-Mw, natural gas-fired Bajio power project in San Luis de la Pax, Mexico. Mexico's national electricity commission (CFE) let a...

Repsol-YPF SA and partners.(receive approval to build two LNG production trains)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Repsol-YPF SA and partners received approval from Trinidad and Tobago for construction of two more LNG production trains at the Atlantic LNG Co. plant at Point Fortin, Trinidad. Construction costs for the new trains are pegged at 180 billion...

Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB).(announces construction of new LNG terminal)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) said the island's third LNG terminal will built at the Changpin Industrial Park in central Taiwan's Changhua County. IDB's plan calls for the construction of a series of wharves on an 11-m shipping...

Chevron USA Inc.(settles court case)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... settled a court case involving the amount of royalties paid on oil produced from federal lease areas. Chevron will pay the US government $95 million to settle the so-called Lufkin suit, which alleged companies had knowingly undervalued oil...

Phillips Petroleum Co. UK Ltd.(receives approval for Jade field development)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Phillips Petroleum Co. UK Ltd. and its partners received approval from the UK Department of Trade and Industry for the development of Jade field on Block 30/2c in 80 m of water in the UK North Sea (OGJ, May 10, 1999, p. 37). Design and...

Talisman Energy UK.(receives approval to develop undersea oil field)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Talisman Energy UK received approval for subsea development of Blake oil field in the outer Moray Firth off Scotland. Development spending will total $380 million (Can.). Blake wells will be tied back to Talisman-operated Ross field, which...

BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd.(and partners develop Keith oil field)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and partners BP Amoco PLC, Elf Aquitaine SA, Veba Oil & Gas, and Total Oil Marine will spend $62 million (Aus.) to develop Keith oil field, 320 km northeast of Aberdeen. BHP has a 31.83% equity in the project. The...

Husky Oil Ltd.(suspends plans to expand heavy oil upgrader)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Husky Oil Ltd., Calgary, put plans on hold for a $500 million (Can.) expansion of its heavy oil upgrader at Lloydminster, Alta. Construction start will now be delayed until 2001 at the earliest. Plans originally called for a start in second...

Gas-detection technology defines oil-gas-water contacts.
January 24, 2000... Differential total gas (DTG), a mud-logging technology that uses dual gas detectors to compare response profiles, can quantitatively measure heavy hydrocarbons ([C.sub.3]-[C.sub.5]) in the gas stream, allowing wellsite personnel to...

US LNG imports poised to play long-term supply role.
January 24, 2000... After languishing for nearly 20 years, LNG imports to the US appear ready to play a moderate role in meeting short-term gas demands. Long-term (after 2010), imported LNG will be a major source in meeting US East Coast natural gas demands,...

Successful column revamps require careful design.
January 24, 2000... Reliable distillation-column revamps in refineries require careful attention to design. Seemingly subtle mistakes can have unfortunate implications. Several refining case studies illustrate the consequences of improper process or...

MEOR pilot sees encouraging results in Chinese oil field.
January 24, 2000... Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) tests in two wells indicated that the process could improve oil recovery from the Qinghai Seven Springs oil field in China (Fig. 1). Other EOR attempts had previously failed to increase production...

Another minijacket planned for off West Africa.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Elf Serepca plans to install a minijacket in its operated Boa Sud field offshore Cameroon. The VEST (very economical structural template) minijacket is a proprietary design of Paragon Engineering Services Inc. and is unique in that it...

Study sees good prospects for some N. Sea service providers.(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... As 2000 opens, the North Sea's A "easy" production growth during the 1990s faces the reality of higher depletion and declining field sizes. In a study published as 2000 approached, Simmons & Co. International, Houston, said opportunities...

MOVES AND PROMOTIONS.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... ENRAF, Inc., Houston, Tex., has named Chip Steffler western regional sales manager. Steffler will be responsible for the company's product sales in western U.S., supervising the company's manufacturer's representatives in that region....

New Mexico's Orogrande basin merits reconsideration now.
January 24, 2000... Much of south-central New Mexico hosts a Paleozoic basin that formed concurrently with the Delaware and Midland basins of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. This basin, known as the Orogrande basin, hosts Pennsylvanian and older rocks...

Arizona.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... A bill introduced in mid-January would amend state law to restrict publication by the Arizona Geological Survey of bulletins, circulars, maps, and other accounts of the results of its geological research. The bill would lengthen to as...

Louisiana.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Southwestern Energy Co., Fayetteville, Ark., plans to start production in February from an exploratory well in Assumption Parish. The 1 Dugas & LeBlanc, in 4-13s-13e, near Bayou St. Vincent field, cut a combined 102 ft of net pay in three...

Texas.(Vintage Petroleum Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... Gulf Coast Vintage Petroleum Inc., Tulsa, Okla., was spudding a second exploratory well in December in the Cedar Point area in the Trinity Bay portion of Galveston Bay. The 1 USX Limonite Unit will go to 10,900 ft or Lower Vicksburg....

Wyoming.(Burlington Resources Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... Burlington Resources Inc. hoped to spud this month the 6-27 Bighorn, fifth deep test in Madden field, Fremont County, in the Wind River basin. The company in December finished drilling its fourth deep test, 5-6 Bighorn. Logs indicate it...

PERSONALS.(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... Carmine Falcone, formerly vice-president of refining for Equilon Enterprises LLC, has been named to the new position of vice-president, refining, of the newly consolidated companies of Equilton and Motiva Enterprises LLC, Houston. He will...

OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT.(Oil and Gas Journal)(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT 1-14-00 [1] 1-15-99 [2] (1,000 b/d) (Crude oil and lease condensate) Albama 34 ...

U.S. CRUDE PRICES.(Statistical Data Included)(Illustration)(Brief Article)
January 24, 2000... U.S. CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl)1 1-14-00 Alaska-North Slope 27 [degrees] 18.02 Southern Louisiana Light 25.75 California-Kern River 13 [degrees] 20.25 Lost Hills 30...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [l] 1-7-00 United Kingdom-Brent 38 [degrees] 23.26 U.S.S.R-Export blend 32 [degrees] 23.36 Saudi light 34 [degrees] 23.45...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 1-14-00 1-15-99 Alabama 3 5 Alaska 7 7 Arkansas 0 3 California 19 18 ...

SMITH RIG COUNT.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
January 24, 2000... SMITH RIG COUNT 1-14-00 1-15-99 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 16 6.2...