The Oil and Gas Journal articles from January 2001

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from January 2001

AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE.
January 29, 2001... AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*] 1-12-01 1-5-01 Change (bcf) Producing region 323 350 -27 Consuming region east 872 935 -63 Consuming region...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
January 29, 2001... SMITH RIG COUNT 1-19-01 1-21-00 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 45 4.4 ...

OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT.
January 29, 2001... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT 1-19-01 [1] 1-21-00 [2] (1,000 b/d) (Crude oil and lease condensate) Alabama 30 30 Alaska ...

U.S. CRUDE PRICES.
January 29, 2001... U.S. CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [*] 1-19-01 Alaska-North Slope 27 [degrees] 27.76 Southern Louisiana Light 29.50 California-Kern River 13 [degrees] 21.25 Lost Hills 30...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.
January 29, 2001... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [1] 1-12-01 United Kingdom-Brent 38 [degrees] 25.53 Russia-Urals 32 [degrees] 24.58 Saudi light 34 [degrees] 21.75...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.
January 29, 2001... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 1-19-01 [*] 1-21-00 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 35.26 34.72 0.54 ...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.
January 29, 2001... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total Comp. [2]...

API REFINERY REPORT.
January 29, 2001... API REFINERY REPORT--JANUARY 19, 2001 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable %...

OGJ GASOLINE PRICES.
January 29, 2001... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES Price Pump Pump ex tax price [*] price 1-17-01 1-17-01 1-19-00 ...

REFINED PRODUCT PRICES.
January 29, 2001... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES 1-12-01 ([cts.]/gal) Spot market product prices Motor gasoline (Conventional-regular) New York Harbor 88.70 ...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.
January 29, 2001... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 1-19-01 1-21-00 Alabama 7 2 Alaska 15 6 Arkansas 6 0 California 27 20 ...

Paragon Engineering Services Inc. (PES).
January 29, 2001... Houston, and Stolt Offshore have announced formation of a joint venture company, Paragon Engineering Services International (PESI). Goal of the new firm is to pursue large deepwater projects worldwide using cost-efficient Gulf of Mexico...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.
January 29, 2001... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 Total U.S. 1-19 1-12 [1] 1-19 1-12 [1] 1-19 ...

Polymer mud improves drilling efficiencies in Bashkortostan.
January 29, 2001... Polymer-based drilling fluids used in the Bashkortostan fields of Russia can increase penetration rates, improve core recovery, minimize formation damage, retain a near-gauge hole, and reduce transportation and preparation costs. ...

PP industry will benefit from restructuring and technology changes.
January 29, 2001... Unprecedented producer consolidations and technological changes will continue to change competition in the polypropylene industry. Technological shifts include new and improved single-site catalysts (SSC) and unique combinations of...

Correlations developed for compressibility of reservoir fluids.
January 29, 2001... Two separate correlations for predicting the isothermal compressibility of reservoir fluids and crude oils have been developed. One correlation is based on molecular weight; the other, on API gravity. Isothermal compressibility and its...

US demand growth in 2001 to respond to slowing economy.
January 29, 2001... Demand for petroleum products in the US will increase again this year, stimulated by lower oil prices, closer to normal weather, and continued economic growth. US crude oil production will not fall for the first time in a decade, though...

Worldwide oil demand to increase again in 2001.
January 29, 2001... Continued growth in the global economy will push up worldwide demand for oil again this year. Recent data from the International Energy Agency project demand increases in all major regions except the former Soviet Union (see tables)....

US, Canada drilling to rise as oil, gas prices moderate.
January 29, 2001... Drilling in the US and Canada should post a healthy increase this year even as average oil and gas prices moderate compared with 2000 prices. Oil & Gas Journal forecasts an approximate 6% pick-up in drilling this year in the face of...

Aurion Technologies Inc.
January 29, 2001... Dallas, has announced a deal in which SmartSignal of Lisle, Ill., will provide equipment condition monitoring (ECM) and fault detection software in Aurion's line of field automation products. Integration of SmartSignal's ECM detection...

Coflexip Stena Offshore.
January 29, 2001... Paris, has announced modification of its executive committee to reflect the acquisition of Aker Maritime's Deepwater Division. Named to head the CSO Aker Maritime Deepwater Division in Houston are Svein Eggen as senior executive...

Expro International Group PLC (Expro Group).
January 29, 2001... Aberdeen, UK, has appointed Stuart Ferguson as group marketing director. Ferguson will be responsible for strategic development of the Group's cased hole services, subsurface systems, and surface and environmental systems. He holds an honors...

Granherne Inc.
January 29, 2001... Houston, has hired Sandeep Khurana as a principal facilities engineer. Khurana, who holds an MS in civil engineering from Rice University, has over 11 years of diversified experience in engineering design. Granherne, a Halliburton...

Inpro/Seal Co.
January 29, 2001... Rock Island, Ill., has appointed Paul Bender as director of sales and marketing. Bender will also help oversee manufacturing, R&D, and engineering operations. Bender holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and has...

Netzsch Inc.
January 29, 2001... Exton, Pa., has appointed Nan Jiang to the position of north central regional sales manager for its analyzing and testing division, based in Chicago. Jiang holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the State University of New...

Trade-Ranger.
January 29, 2001... Houston, has selected Claire S. Farley as its permanent chief executive officer. Farley has over 19 years of energy industry experience, holding several high-level positions with Texaco Inc. Trade-Ranger is an internet marketplace that...

Shell's next TLP hull starts journey to Gulf of Mexico.
January 29, 2001... Shell Exploration & Production Co.'s Brutus tension-leg-platform (TLP) hull departed Daewoo Corp.'s fabrication yards near Okpo, South Korea, on Dec. 7, 2000, for a 2-month journey to Aker Maritime ASA's yard near Ingleside, Tex. At...

North Sea subsea wellhead removal proceeds.
January 29, 2001... Coflexip Stena Offshore Ltd. (CSOL), a UK unit of the Coflexip Stena Offshore Group, has been active in recovering subsea wellheads and production trees from the North Sea with its monohull well intervention vessel CSO Seawell. CSOL says...

Gas-power firms dominate Energy 50 ranking in 2000.
January 29, 2001... The yearend 2000 ranking of the world's 50 largest energy firms is dominated by companies with new business models--the main focus of these firms is on business development rather than their capital assets. Also, the ranking is dominated...

Manning the controls.
January 29, 2001... Jeroen van der Veer recently admonished international oil companies to set their, sights beyond classic supply and demand analysis in dealing with the volatility predicted to haunt crude prices for the foreseeable future. That sounds like a...

Apache to acquire Repsol-YPF's Egyptian interests.
January 29, 2001... Apache Corp., Houston, continues to wield its purchasing power in scooping up more assets that will strengthen its core areas of operations. Apache said early last week that it will buy essentially all of Repsol-YPF SA's exploration and...

API pipeline committee names new chair.
January 29, 2001... George M. Rootes, president of Equilon Pipeline Co., has been selected to chair the American Petroleum Institute's pipeline committee. He succeeds David L. Lemmon, president and chief executive of Colonial Pipeline Co., who held the...

US E&P firms shone as energy stocks made big gains in 2000.
January 29, 2001... Energy company stocks achieved a median total return of 48% in 2000, and a fourth of the issues doubled in price, according to John S. Herold Inc., Norwalk Conn. In a report released earlier this month, the analyst said that all but 1 of...

Bossier play has room to grow, possible limits in East Texas.
January 29, 2001... Petroleum exploration has often depended upon re-found opportunities in mature areas. No province reveals this better than the East Texas basin (ETB), which has undergone several rejuvenations of exploratory activity during the 1980-90s and...

Bossier gas activity paces East Texas operations.
January 29, 2001... Operators plan to turn up the heat this year on Cretaceous and Jurassic exploration and development drilling in the East Texas basin. Rig counts in recent weeks show almost 100 rotaries operating in Texas Railroad Commission Dists. 5 and...

Increased US workover-rig activity forecast.
January 29, 2001... Strong oil prices and a backlog of well-maintenance jobs deferred by recent mergers and property exchanges among operators will trigger major increases in the US land workover market in 2001-02. Simmons & Co., a Houston investment banking...

UNOCAL GLOBAL TRADE HAS BEGUN SOLUTION MINING ITS KEYSTONE GAS STORAGE FACILITY NEAR KERMIT, TEX.
January 29, 2001... Located near the Waha Hub, the Keystone project will have 3 bcf of high deliverability salt cavern storage capacity, with sustainable 100 MMcfd injection and 200 MMcfd withdrawal capability. The facility is to begin operation in first...

More gas for Mexico.
January 29, 2001... There has been much discussion in Oil & Gas Journal lately about soaring demand for natural gas. The shortage is not limited to the US but has also become a problem in Mexico. When compiling data used in the Forecast & Review special...

Doing nothing on energy.
January 29, 2001... An electricity crisis in California and refinery closure in Illinois sound loud alarms about energy in the US. Both events show what happens when do-nothing environmentalism prevails over energy supply Both show how the politics of energy...

US petroleum industry stresses easing as downstream woes persist.
January 29, 2001... Although the US oil industry has been under severe stress during the past few years, the sources of that stress have changed dramatically. In 1998 through early 1999, the industry suffered from extremely depressed prices. The ensuing...

PREMCOR SAID IT WOULD PERMANENTLY CLOSE ITS 76,000 B/D REFINERY IN BLUE ISLAND, ILL., AT THE END OF THE MONTH.
January 29, 2001... Premcor said the refinery won't be cost-effective under EPA's new low-sulfur fuel regulations (OGJ, Jan. 1, 2001, P. 7). The company said that, although it had spent $70 million on the refinery over the last 5 years, the plant does not...

RENTECH WILL CONDUCT A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING ITS GTL TECHNOLGY AT A WYOMING METHANOL PLANT.
January 29, 2001... Wyoming Business Council, a state economic development agency, will give Rentech $800,000 to fund a feasibility study using Rentech's GTL technology. There are two phases to the project. One involves the feasibility of retrofitting part...

HUSKY OIL AND PETRO-CANADA ARE MAKING PLANS TO DEVELOP WHITE ROSE FIELD OFF NEWFOUNDLAND.
January 29, 2001... Husky Oil Operations and partner Petro-Canda applied to the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board to develop White Rose oil field, 350 km off Newfoundland in 115-130 m of water. Husky said it is uncertain whether North White Rose...

GAZ METROPOLITAN AND ENBRIDGE HAVE PROPOSED A NEW GAS PIPELINE IN EASTERN CANADA.
January 29, 2001... Gaz Metropolitain and Enbridge have proposed a $270 million (Can.) project to supply gas from fields off Nova Scotia to markets in New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. The 50-50 venture will tie into the existing Maritimes & Northeast...

MMS HAS ISSUED REVISED GUIDELINES TO HELP OPERATORS SUBMIT OIL AND GAS E&D PLANS FOR GULF OF MEXICO LEASES.
January 29, 2001... Federal law requires a company to obtain MMS approval of either an exploration plan or a development plan before it can conduct drilling or production operations. MMS said that, previously, guidance regarding E&D regulations was contained in...

BURLINGTON RESOURCES' BIGHORN 6-27 WELL HAS SET A DRILLING DEPTH RECORD FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AREA.
January 29, 2001... The well, located in 27-39n-90w, Fremont County, Wyo., was drilled to a TD of 25,855 ft, with a TVD of 25,821 ft, on Jan. 7. That surpasses the previous record set by Rainbow Resources' Federal 34 well, drilled to a TVD of 25,764 ft in...

CAIRN ENERGY MADE A THIRD GAS FIND ON BLOCK CBOS/2 OFF GUJARAT, WESTERN INDIA.
January 29, 2001... Exploration well CB-B-1, about 6 km southeast of the UK independent's recent Lakshmi gas discovery, reached a TD of 1,286 m, encountering several hydrocarbon pay zones below 753 m. Two zones in the Gauri discovery flowed gas on test at a...

WILL THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS BE A RESCUE OF CALIFORNIA'S POWER SECTOR BEFORE THAT CRISIS THREATENS THE WHOLE US ECONOMY?
January 29, 2001... Without a rapid and decisive response by the Bush administration, California's power problems threaten to plunge the state into an "economic depression, pulling the US down with it," says a prominent energy analyst. The most important...

OUTGOING US ENERGY SEC. BILL RICHARDSON.
January 29, 2001... OUTGOING US ENERGY SEC. BILL RICHARDSON this month issued an emergency order requiring 27 suppliers to provide Pacific Gas & Electric with natural gas, after the California utility complained that six of its suppliers had stopped or were...

NORTH AMERICAN DRILLING ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO BUILD.
January 29, 2001... There were 1,128 rotary rigs working in the US and 561 in Canada the week of Jan. 15, according to Baker Hughes. A year ago, there were 781 US rigs active and 517 in Canada. There were 887 rigs drilling for gas in the US the week of...

US PETROLEUM DELIVERIES STALLED LAST YEAR AT 1999 LEVELS AFTER 4 YEARS OF GROWTH, ACCORDING TO API.
January 29, 2001... It said the stall occurred despite economic growth that, for the year as a whole, was likely the greatest in over 15 years. API said US crude production was 5.838 million b/d in 2000, down 0.7%, which was a slower rate of decline than in...

OGJ Newsletter.
January 29, 2001... Market Movement Gas prices easing with warmer weather--but a bull market persists Natural gas prices are finally beginning to moderate a bit with warmer weather, but not before price forecasts for the balance of 2001 were notched up...

US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 1/29.
January 29, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 1/29 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date YTD avg Latest week 1/19 average year ago change average [1] year ago [1] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline...

INTERNAL RESTRUCTURING IS CITED AS ONE REASON BEHIND RUSSIA'S INCREASED OIL PRODUCTION.
January 29, 2001... Despite a lack of direct foreign investment in Russia since the August 1998 financial crisis, the Russian oil industry has reversed its declining oil production, which reached 6.49 million bo/d in 2000 from a low of 6.05 million bo/d in 1996...

OPEC tries to navigate oil prices to $25/bbl; uncertainty prevails.
January 22, 2001... OPEC continues to try to navigate oil prices between the Scylla of Iraqi supply surprises and the Charybdis of weakening oil demand. The group's latest effort to micromanage oil markets has yielded a 1.5 million bid cut, as expected. Not...

Reactions.
January 22, 2001... The immediate response from consuming nations was one of disappointment and concern. The outgoing Clinton administration--after departing US Energy Sec. Bill Richardson undertook a futile whistlestop campaign to jawbone OPEC into a...

A mistake?
January 22, 2001... That theme was picked up by one key analyst, London-based think tank Centre for Global Energy Studies. CGES contends that OPEC had lulled itself into a false sense of well-being after a year in which oil prices average over $28/bbl and...

More cuts later?
January 22, 2001... But another top OPEC-watching analyst sees a very real possibility of still further cuts on the horizon. Middle East Economic Survey reports that OPEC officials have had an eye on the situation with Iraqi oil exports all along in the...

NAPHTHA OUTPUT IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION-IS EXPECTED TO RISE IN 2001.
January 22, 2001... According to Energy Security Analysis Inc., naphtha refinery throughputs in Asia Pacific will increase by more than 2% in first half 2001 to average 1.8 million b/d (see chart). ESAI expects Asian refinery capacity to grow by 450,000 b/d in...

GLOBAL MARINE SAYS THAT 2001 WILL BE A BOOM YEAR FOR OFFSHORE DRILLING.
January 22, 2001... The new year is shaping up as a boom year for offshore drilling, as energy companies pour recent record cash flow back into exploration and development, the head of Global Marine said. Industry analysts are predicting a 20% increase in...

FERC CHAIRMAN JAMES HOECKER HAS LEFT THE COMMISSION.
January 22, 2001... Hoecker last week announced his departure effective Jan. 18. Hoecker was named a commissioner in 1993 and reappointed to a 5-year term in 1995. Former Pres. Bill Clinton designated him as chairman of the five-member commission in 1997....

FORMER PRES. CLINTON.
January 22, 2001... FORMER PRES. CLINTON will not designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain a national monument, a spokesman said this month. Alaska's congressmen had been concerned that Clinton might use the 1906 Antiquities Act to...

THE NATIONAL OCEAN INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION IS URGING MMS TO CREATE A "VIABLE" LONG-TERM LEASING POLICY THAT INCLUDES CONSIDERING ACREAGE PREVIOUSLY OFF-LIMITS.
January 22, 2001... MMS late last month asked industry for input on a new 5-year plan for the federal offshore oil and natural gas leasing program. The plan will determine where and when companies can lease parcels of offshore acreage on which to explore and...

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM HAS SIGNED AN AGREEMENT WITH YEMEN TO EXPLORE BLOCK 44 IN HADRAMAUT PROVINCE.
January 22, 2001... The block covers 6,335 sq km just north of Oxy's holdings in the Masila (Block 14) and East Shabwa (Block 10) operations, which produce more than 250,000 b/d of oil. Oxy said it expects the geology of Block 44, in the Sanyun-Masila...

Algeria.
January 22, 2001... Elsewhere on the exploration scene, more than 20 international oil companies are interested in six exploration blocks in Algeria, according to the country's Ministry of Energy and Mines. Last November, Algeria began a tendering process for...

Southwestern Energy and Energen Resources.
January 22, 2001... Southwestern Energy and Energen Resources formed an exploration alliance in the New Mexico Permian basin. Under the deal, the companies jointly will explore Energen's 14,200 net acres in Lea and Eddy counties. The companies plan to drill two...

Petroleum Development Corp.
January 22, 2001... Petroleum Development Corp. said it has concluded two farmout deals that will allow it to explore for and develop reserves on 57,000 acres in and adjacent to Grand Valley field in Garfield County, Colo. PDC said that, with the acquisition, it...

OSAKA GAS PLANS TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL LNG FROM THE AUSTRALIAN NORTHWEST SHELF VENTURE.
January 22, 2001... Osaka Gas signed a letter of intent to purchase another 1 million tonnes/year of LNG from partners in the Australian North West Shelf venture, said project operator Woodside Energy. The Osaka agreement provides for the supply of the LNG...

Statoil.
January 22, 2001... In other gas processing action, Statoil this month opened its Karsto processing plant and Asgard gas transport system. Karsto will be Europe's largest natural gas treatment complex, said the company. According to Statoil, Norwegian gas...

DUKE IS MAKING PLANS TO EXPAND ITS LOUISIANA GAS STORAGE FACILITY.
January 22, 2001... Market Hub Partners LP (MHP), a division of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, said it will expand its Egan, La., gas storage facility to 16 bcf from 12 bcf. MHP has filed with FERC for permits to begin the $9 million expansion. MHP expects to...

Zhenhai Refining & Chemical.
January 22, 2001... In other storage news, China's Zhenhai Refining & Chemical has begun building a tank farm to accommodate more crude imports at its Zhenhai refinery. The facilities consist of three 100,000 cu m tanks. They are scheduled for completion in...

RUSSIA'S LUKOIL SIGNED A PRODUCTION-SHARING AGREEMENT WITH AZERBAIJAN'S STATE-OWNED SOCAR FOR APPRAISAL, INFILL DRILLING, AND REHABILITATION WORK IN ZYKH AND GOVSANY FIELDS IN AZERBAIJAN.
January 22, 2001... The first of two phases on the block, located on the southern Apsheron Peninsula east of Baku, will cost more than $200 million, said Lukoil. This is a more detailed version of an agreement signed last year (OGJ, Aug. 7, 2000, p. 36). ...

Burullus Gas.
January 22, 2001... In other development work, Egypt's Burullus Gas has awarded a $56 million contract for an Eastern Mediterranean gas field development project. Burullus Gas JV awarded the Egyptian Deepwater Development Consortium a $56 million contract for...

TrueNorth Energy.
January 22, 2001... TOPPING PRODUCTION NEWS THIS WEEK, TrueNorth Energy plans a second phase to its proposed Fort Hills oil sands project that will double expected peak production to 190,000 b/d of bitumen and nearly double the project's cost to $2 billion...

Comstock Resources.
January 22, 2001... In other production action, Comstock Resources began production from three wells in the South Pelto-South Timbalier area of the Gulf of Mexico. On South Pelto Block 5, the OCS-G 12027 No. 5 is producing 28.4 MMcfd of gas and 925 b/d of...

PERTAMINA HAS SELECTED UOP TECHNOLOGY FOR ITS INDONESIAN NAPHTHA COMPLEX.
January 22, 2001... Pertamina selected UOP LLC to supply technology for a 52,000 b/sd grassroots naphtha complex at its 125,000 b/d Balongan refinery in Indramayn, West Java. The naphtha complex, which will be designed to process a full range of naphtha,...

VietRoss.
January 22, 2001... Elsewhere on the refining front, partners in the VietRoss refinery project have selected Honeywell Industrial Control--an affiliate of Honeywell International--to provide distributed control systems and ancillary systems for the first...

Algeria's Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil.
January 22, 2001... Algeria's Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil this month opened a bidding round to build a refinery in the Adrar region in the south of the country. The refinery would be supplied by several small oil and gas fields in the Sbaa basin that...

INGAA HAS EMBRACED EPA'S REVISIONS TO A 22-STATE PLAN TO REDUCE UTILITY AND INDUSTRIAL NITROGEN OXIDE EMISSIONS.
January 22, 2001... The revisions appeared on EPA's web site earlier this month. They answer a review of the plan ordered by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last March. The court had said EPA's state implementation plans (SIPs) on...

Correction.
January 22, 2001... In a report on regulatory actions looming for US pipelines in 2001 (OGJ, Jan. 1, 2001, p. 70), the amount of product spilled by Olympic Pipe Co. on June 10, 1999, should have been reported as about 6,000 bbl, not 6 million bbl.

'Small' significance.
January 22, 2001... A grain of sand. Not very significant, you say? Well, put it inside downhole pumping equipment or any other precision instrument--or in your eye--and its importance increases dramatically. As Einstein said, "Everything is relative." ...

OPEC and US energy policy.
January 22, 2001... With a little effort from the major players, the political dimension of petroleum economics might soon progress into a new era more constructive than the past. This gleam of hope was not easy to see last week. A cut in production quotas...

Mexico's natural gas pricing crisis: Will confrontation lead to policy liberalization?
January 22, 2001... For the first time since 1976, a change in presidential administration in Mexico on Dec. 1, 2000, did not provoke a meltdown of the Mexican currency, evidence of the astonishing growth in confidence and the soundness of economic policy of...

AEP to buy Enron's Texas intrastate natural gas system.
January 22, 2001... American Electric Power, Columbus, Ohio, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Houston Pipe Line Co., which comprises virtually all of Houston-based Enron Corp.'s extensive Texas intrastate natural gas operations. In other...