The Oil and Gas Journal articles from July 1993

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from July 1993

Gas has economic, political questions. (natural gas) (Editorial)
July 26, 1993... It is time for the worldwide natural gas industry to move beyond environmentalist marketing of its definitely clean-burning fuel. Success or failure of the gas business will not be decided in environmentalist terms, however important those...

Subsalt play could rekindle outlook for Gulf of Mexico. (potential for oil and gas deposits beneath salt sheets)
July 26, 1993... Gulf of Mexico operators are drilling two subsalt wildcats with big implications for the region's petroleum prospectivity. If successful, the Mahogany prospect on Ship Shoal Block 349 and the Mattaponi prospect on South Marsh Island Block...

Total starts up Bongkot gas field. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Total and partners have brought on stream giant Bongkot natural gas field in the Gulf of Thailand off Thailand at a rate of 150 MMcfd. Plans call for production to jump to 200 MMcfd in January 1994 and 250 MMcfd in January 1995. Reserves...

Oil spill burn test slated off E. Canada.
July 26, 1993... A major crude oil spill test burn is scheduled to get under way off Newfoundland in early August. The experimental burn will be the first controlled burn of crude oil in open sea to record the effects of burning oil emissions on air and...

Drilling increases anticipated in U.S. and western Canada. (oil and gas drilling)
July 26, 1993... Oil and gas drilling in the U.S. will pick up slightly in second half 1993. Meanwhile, drilling in western Canada is up sharply in response to growing U.S. demand for Canadian natural gas. Oil & Gas Journal estimates overall oil and...

Rehab permits desert line to run at original pressures. (Agip Oil Co. Ltd. restoration of gas-condensate pipeline)
July 26, 1993... An extensive inspection and rehabilitation program on a 34-in. desert pipeline in gas-condensate service has restored the line to full operating pressures and ensured the line's active service life for at least 20 years. Since Agip Oil...

Hydroprocessing key issue in 'low-sulfur' area. (excerpt from panel discussion at Oct. 1993 National Petroleum Refiners Assn. annual question and answer session)
July 26, 1993... Refiners gave heavy attention to hydroprocessing operations at the most recent National Petroleum Refiners Association annual question and answer session on refining and petrochemical technology. Among the topics covered were diesel...

Tanker under retrofit for arctic service gets new propulsion design.(Nemarc arctic tanker M/T Uikku)
July 26, 1993... The world's largest azimuthing propulsion drive will be installed on an oil tanker under retrofit for arctic service by a Finnish shipyard. And plans call for the drive's installation on four 135,000 cu m LNG carriers. The 11.4-mw...

The Parsons Corp. (personnel changes) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... The Parson Corp. has named Thomas E. Lasseter president of Parson S.I.P. Inc., the Houston-based engineering and construction company. Lasseter, with more than 30 years of experience in the petroleum and chemical industry, will succeed W....

SBM Drilling Fluids. (personnel changes) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... SBM Drilling Fluids, Houston, Tex., has named L. Mel Cooper senior vice president, chief financial officer. Cooper was treasurer and chief financial officer of Southern Holdings, Inc. Prior to this, Cooper was vice president of finance...

Halliburton Company. (reorganization of Energy Services Group into Halliburton Energy Services) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Halliburton Company, Dallas Tex., has reorganized its energy Services Group. The ten separate business units that now constitute the company's Energy Service Group will be combined into a single division of Halliburton Company to be...

Redox identification technology - a direct location technique. (reduction-oxidation cell location identification)
July 26, 1993... Recently a new technology has been developed whereby the direct detection of oil reservoirs generated by reduction-oxidation (redox) cells can be made. This technique is described as redox indentification technology (RIT). The oil...

OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to "discuss the current soft state of the international oil market." (Jul 28, 1993; Vienna, Austria) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Iraq's acceptance of U.N. missile test sites. (approval of oil sales to fund relief work in Iraq) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

OPEC Pres. Jean Ping was to begin a tour of key Persian Gulf producers July 21 to seek views of other OPEC ministers on Iraqi exports. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London, contends Iraq's bid to sell $1.6 billion worth of oil to fund humanitarian activities could hardly come at a worse time for OPEC. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Political disarray in Russia isn't stemming the tide of foreign investment in downstream or upstream ventures there. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Yemen's oil prospects continue to brighten. (Total tests central Yemen oil fields for commercial potential) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Taiwan, one of the top prospects for LNG marketers, has a pair of sizable offshore natural gas discoveries. (Chinese Petroleum Corp. preliminary testing) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Russia's petroleum industry remains in "deep crisis", says Minister of Fuel and Energy Yuri Shafranik. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs wants two big refinery/petroleum projects to merge in a cooperative venture. (Tuntex, Chinese Petrochemical Corp.) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Elf Aquitaine and chemical giant Rhone-Poulenc are on the list of the first four French companies. (companies to be privatized)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Pemex has postponed until at least 1994 privatization of 60 petrochemical plants as a result of weak market conditions and uncertainty over the effect of possible environmental accords being cobbled onto the the North American Free Trade Agreement. (Petroleos Mexicana) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

North American first half earnings reports are beginning to trickle in, and the results are generally bright upstream and weak downstream. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

California has certified two ARCO diesel formulas to meet the state's new standards, which take effect Oct. 1 and call for major cuts in sulfur and aromatics content. (Oct. 1, 1993) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

U.S. natural gas demand is expected to continue to grow in 1993. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Increased gas demand and prices continue to buoy U.S. drilling. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Drilling rig utilization in the Gulf of Mexico remains at its highest level in 2 years. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Global Marine is mobilizing two 300 ft. independent leg, cantilevered jack ups owned 50-50 with Transocean Drilling AS, Norway, to the gulf from the North Sea. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... OPEC is scrambling to pull oil prices out of their steepest plunge in 3 years, and market signals are decidedly mixed. After key market prices slipped below $16 last week, OPEC said it will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna July 28 to...

Marching toward a tax increase. (congressional conference committee considers gasoline and diesel tax) (Column)
July 26, 1993... A congressional conference committee seems to be moving smoothly toward an agreement that would increase the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel but impose no other energy taxes. The committee began making progress last week on the...

Intertanko cites woes in meeting OPA deadline. (International Assn of Independent Tanker Owners; Oil Pollution Act of 1990)
July 26, 1993... Independent oil tanker owners have complained to the U.S. Coast Guard of difficulties setting up oil spill response contracts by the Aug. 18 deadline as required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. International Association of Independent...

TAPS to draw closer government scrutiny. (Trans-Alaska Pipeline System)
July 26, 1993... The Bureau of Land Management is toughening its oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Jim Baca, BLM director said, "There has been a long history of problems at the pipeline and numerous investigations which have failed...

Kazakh liquids, gas reserves tallied. (Kazakhstancaspishelf)
July 26, 1993... Kazakhstan's 160 fields hold reserves totaling 15.56 billion bbl of oil, 62.9 tcf of gas, and 6.01 billion bbl of condensate, data compiled by Kazakh Scientific Research Geological Exploration Petroleum Institute (Kaznigri) show. ...

Russo-German petchem complex eyed. (petrochemical)
July 26, 1993... Germany's BASF AG and Russia's Gasprom have formed a joint venture to build a 1.2-1.5 billion Deutschemark ($700-800 million) petrochemical complex at Novyy Urengoy, Siberia. The plant will use gas produced locally as feedstock to...

Finding costs reflect industry improved efficiency. (oil and gas finding costs decline)
July 26, 1993... Driven by hard times, the U.S. industry continues to improve the efficiency of its exploration and development program. The proof lies in oil and gas finding costs. The 5 year moving average for finding costs slipped again in 1991,...

French try farm grown fuel additives. (ethyl tertiary butyl ether)(Watching The World.) (Column)
July 26, 1993... France is famous for its endless variety of delightful sauces. Now, it seems, French refiners are out to gain a similar reputation for their gasolines, with sugar beets, cereal, and rape seed products added to commercially sold fuels. ...

Big equipment sealift headed for Alaskan N. Slope. (gas handling modules moved by barge)
July 26, 1993... Barges loaded with what the carrier calls the largest, heaviest equipment modules moved to Alaska's North Slope are scheduled to reach Prudhoe Bay in August. The sealift is being conducted by Crowley Marine Services Inc., Seattle, which...

Riverside Gas Storage Co. (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Riverside Gas Storage Co., a combine of units of Texas Eastern Transmission Corp., Houston, and Equitrans Inc. pipeline unit of Equitable Resources Inc., Pittsburgh, is holding an open season through July 30 to offer nondiscriminatory, open...

Koch Refining Co.'s. (emissions reduction) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Koch Refining Co.'s 218,500 b/cd Rosemount, Minn., refinery cut [SO.sub.2] emissions to less than an average 10 tons/day from the 1989-90 of 17 tons/day. Completion on construction of a hydrogen plant and sulfur removal plant in its $220...

Salomon Inc. (fuel upgrade plan)
July 26, 1993... Salomon Inc. unit Phibro Energy USA Inc. plans a $200 million residual fuel upgrade at its 123,500 b/cd Texas City, Tex., and 67,000 b/cd Houston refineries. Work includes relocation of a 63,000 b/d heavy oil residfiner, building a residual...

Phibro USA. (acquisition of Dow Chemical Co. refinery)
July 26, 1993... Phibro USA agreed to buy Dow Chemical Co.'s 200,000 b/d Oyster Creek refinery at Freeport, Tex., for an undisclosed price. Phibro will dismantle and remove all the equipment currently at the Oyster Creek site. Much of the equipment, including...

Kuwait Petroleum International. (changes refinery to oil products import terminal) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Kuwait Petroleum International plans to shut down its 85,000 b/d Naples refinery Sept. 20 and recommission it temporarily as an oil products import terminal. KPI said authorities in Naples and Italian government long sought to remove...

Louisiana Land & Exploration Co. (purchase of Nerco Oil & Gas Inc.) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Louisiana Land & Exploration Co., New Orleans, agreed to buy Nerco Oil & Gas Inc., Lafayette, La., for $353.7 million cash. Leases acquired by LL&E include working interests averaging more than 50% in 50 producing oil and gas fields, mainly...

Noble affiliates Inc. (designing new drilling platform) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Noble Affiliates Inc., Ardmore, Okla., is evaluating design plans for an eight pile drilling-production platform able to handle 8,000 b/d of oil and 100 MMcfd of gas from federal lease blocks off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Installation...

Mobile Corp. (production started from North Sea platforms) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Mobile Corp. started producing gas from Lancelot and Guinevere unmanned platforms in the U.K. North Sea. The fields, 40 miles off Norfolk County, England, straddle Blocks 48/17a, 48/17b, and 48/18a. The Lancelot platform weighs 2,251 metric...

Canada's. (completion tally for oil and gas wells in western Canada) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Canada's completion tally during first half 1993 reached a combined total of 4,174 oil and gas wells and 4.74 million m of hole, the highest marks since 1988. There were 1,157 gas well completions, more than double 1992's midyear total of...

Western Canada. (rig utilization average) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Western Canada rig utilization average during first half 1993 stood at 53%, the highest since 1988, the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors reported. During the last week of June, utilization reached 65%, with 272 rigs...

Total Oil Marine plc. (accommodation vessel contract) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Total Oil Marine plc, London, let a 7 million [pounds] ($10.5 million) contract to KS Rasmussen Offshore AS, Kristiansand, Norway, to provide an accommodation vessel during development of Dunbar field in U.K. North Sea Block 3/14a. Anders...

Norsk Hydro AS. (contract for semisubmersible oil-drilling rig) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Norsk Hydro AS, Oslo, let an 800 million kroner ($108 million) contract to Polar Frontier Drilling AS, Bergen, Norway, for work in the West Troll oil region of the Norwegian North Sea. Sonat Offshore Drilling Inc.'s Polar Pioneer...

Fire broke out. (South Ninian platform, UK North Sea Block 3/8) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Fire broke out on the South Ninian platform in U.K. North Sea Block 3/8 late July 17, following routine maintenance of one of two turbine generators. The turbine and adjacent production module were immediately shut down and the platform's 274...

Western Siberia's. (North Gubkinskoye oil field reserves) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Western Siberia's North Gubkinskoye oil field holds reserves estimated at 312 million bbl of oil and 45 million bbl of condensate. The condensate figure previously was reported incorrectly as billions of barrels (OGJ, July 19, p. 20).

Siberia's. (Krasnoyarsk endorsement of Russo-Cyprian joint venture) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Siberia's Krasnoyarsk territorial Minor Council endorsed Yeniseineft, a Russo-Cyprian joint venture launched early in 1992 by state run Yeniseineftegazgeologiya geological enterprise and registered in Cyprus, to develop the Vankorskoye oil...

Saudi Arabian Chemical Investment Corp. (joint venture for methyl tertiary butyl ether plant) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Saudi Arabian Chemical Investment Corp. and Mobil Corp. formed joint venture valued at $320 million to build a 20,000 b/d methyl tertiary butyl ether plant in Saudi Arabia. The project requires Saudi government approval. No timetable is...

American Pipeline Co. (affiliate Red River Pipeline Co. is building bidirectional gas flow facility) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Amoco Production Co.'s 1 OCS-G 6894 deepwater wildcat in the Central Gulf of Mexico's Viosca Knoll Block 915 cut 135 ft of net oil and gas pay in multiple sands. A sidetrack to test the lateral extent of the sands logged 170 net ft of oil and...

Columbia Gas System Inc. (filing for reorganization plan postponed) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Columbia Gas System Inc. and main pipeline subsidiary Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. postponed filing of a reorganization plan for Columbia Transmission to allow discussions with its creditors to continue. The companies have been operating...

GPM Gas Corp. (purchase of gas gathering systems) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... GPM Gas Corp., Houston, purchased two gas gathering systems in Oklahoma from Panda Resources Inc., Tulsa, for an undisclosed price. It bought Panda's Vici system in western Dewey County and the Oakwood system in the eastern part of the...

Panhandle Eastern Corp. (Texas Eastern Transmission to provide gas transportation services) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Panhandle Eastern Corp. unit Texas Eastern Transmission will provide a combined total of 18 MMcfd of firm gas transportation service to four U.S. Northeast utilities. It will provide the service from receipt points at Oakford, Pa., to...

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. (owners settle for Exxon Valdez oil spill damages) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Trans-Alaska Pipeline System owners agreed to pay $98 million to native villages, fishermen, and thousands of other Alaskans harmed by the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, which spilled more than 260,000 bbl of oil into Prince William Sound in...

Addison & Baxter Ltd. (agreement to upgrade and operate seismic survey vessels) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Addition & Baxter Ltd., Newport Pagnell, U.K., agreed to assist with upgrading and operating seismic survey vessels for Sevmorneftegeofizika, Murmansk, Russia,, and Dalmorneftegeofizika, a Sakhalin Island organization, for use in 2D, 3D, and...

Amoco Production Co.'s. (cut 135 feet of net oil and gas pay in Central Gulf of Mexico Viosca Knoll Block 915) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... American Pipeline Co. affiliate Red River Pipeline Co. LP started work on facilities that will allow bidirectional gas flow by Sept. 1 between Waha in Pecos County, West Texas, and Wheeler County in the Texas Panhandle. The project includes...

American Exploration Co. (lawsuits settled with Louisiana Intrastate Gas Corp.) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... American Exploration Co., Houston, settled lawsuits with Louisiana Intrastate Gas Corp., Alexandria, La., receiving a cash payment of $13.2 million, or about $10 million net after payment of royalties. The suit stems from the price of gas...

Weatherford International Inc. (agreement to acquire Tuboscope Vetco International Corp.) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Weatherford International Inc., Houston, signed a letter of intent to acquire Tuboscope Vetco International Corp., also of Houston, in a trade valued at $370 million. The deal is subject to negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement...

Castle Energy Corp. (possible purchase of Powerine Oil Co. stock) (Brief Article)
July 26, 1993... Castle Energy Corp., Blue Bell, Pa., is conducting a due diligence review for possible purchase of the stock of Powerine Oil Co., Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Powerine owns and operates a 46,500 b/cd heavy oil refinery in Santa Fe Springs as well...

Noncore U.S. refining assets finding buyers.
July 26, 1993... Tosco Corp.'s purchase of Exxon Co.'s Bayway, N.J., refinery prompted consulting firm Kidder Peabody & Co., New York, to question current wisdom that money losing or nonstrategic refining assets must shut down. Tosco has shown with the...

Norway to let foreign producers in on gas talks. (foreign operators to participate in sales negotiations)
July 26, 1993... Beginning in August foreign companies will be represented in specific sales agreements handles by Norway's gas negotiating committee (GFU). In a move to tie field development closer to gas sales contracts, the Ministry of Industry and...

Demand and producer politics to shape second-half oil market. (economic uncertainty in second half of 1993)(Midyear Forecast/Review) (Industry Overview)
July 26, 1993... The oil market will tread a narrow path between economic uncertainty and producer politics in the second half of 1993. Economics in the U.S., Europe, and Japan remain sluggish, threatening to deny the Organization of Petroleum Exporting...

Australia's gas industry gaining new prominence.
July 19, 1993... Australia's natural gas industry has undergone fundamental changes in the last few years. A decade ago Australian gas discoveries were considered poor cousins to the more sought after oil finds. Few companies would have considered an...

Free markets best for LPG, other fuels. (liquid petroleum gas) (Editorial)
July 19, 1993... Maybe it's because the fuel isn't "new" enough and therefore not sufficiently "alternative." Or could it be that too many people know too little about it? For some reason, U.S. policy making seems to have a blind spot regarding liquid...

Unocal resumes shipping Alaskan urea to Viet Nam. (Unocal Corp.) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Some U.S. petroleum companies are making inroads in Viet Nam despite the U.S. embargo on trade with that country. Unocal Corp. in May shipped 18,000 tons of urea to Viet Nam from its fertilizer plant at Kenai, Alas., 75 miles southwest of...

C.I.S. members seeking more Russian crude. (Commonwealth of Independent States) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States are becoming frantic in their attempts to import more crude from Russia, whose supply keeps falling as its oil plummets. Moscow remains by far the largest seller of crude to previous...

Oil, politics mixture remains strong. (petroleum exploration prospers in politically unstable regions) (Column)
July 19, 1993... When Mackay Consultants, Inverness, U.K., compiled a report on worldwide offshore prospects recently, the dragnet caught just about everywhere with hopes of holding offshore oil. A glance through the list of "hopefuls" shows the well...

Joint venture starts Russian oil field flow. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... A U.S.-Russian joint venture has started oil production from North Gubkinskoye oil field in western Siberia. Geoilbent Ltd. began initial production of about 500 b/d from three wells into its recently completed 37 mile pipeline, which has...

U.K., Norway to pace increase in offshore output. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... World offshore oil and gas industry spending will grow at a rate of a little more than 3%/year to $84 billion in 1995. Meantime, offshore oil production will rise 16% from 1991 to 1995, while offshore gas flow will grow 18%. Much of this...

More Canadian pipeline expansions on tap. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Canadian pipelines continue to press system expansions. National Energy Board (NEB) last week received an application from Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc. (IPL), Edmonton, for a permit to add $258.2 million (Canadian) in crude oil pipeline...

Bangladesh oil, gas attracting renewed interest. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Bangladesh is attracting new interest to its petroleum sector, notably natural gas. That renewed interest stems in large part from the government's plans to draft a new national energy plan that is expected to include privatization of...

McCormick gets Polish coalbed methane acreage. (McCormick Energy Inc.) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Poland has awarded coalbed methane development rights on 60,000 acres in the Upper Silesian basin to a unit of McCormick Energy Inc., Houston. McCormick Poland is one of two companies to receive coalbed methane concessions in the past...

U.S. oil production keeps on sliding. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... U.S. crude and condensate production dipped to less than 6.9 million b/d in first half 1993, the lowest volume in 35 years. The American Petroleum Institute said the larger than anticipated drop of about 400,000 b/d, or 5.5%, surpassed...

ARCO to explore tract in Tunisia. (ARCO Tunisia Inc.) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... ARCO Tunisia Inc. has signed a contract with the Tunisian government covering 3 years of exploration rights to the Sbiba block near Tunisia's border with Algeria. The 4,936 sq km block lies near the producing Douleb/Semmamma and...

Four tracts acquired off W. Australia. (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Western Australia has awarded four 6 year offshore exploration permits in the Carnarvon basin. All are in the Rowley Shoals area off Dampier. Phillips Australian Oil Co. and Ampolex Ltd. won Block W92-6 in water depths of about 650...

Sudan's. (government approves oil concession development) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Sudan's government initially approved State Petroleum Corp.'s plan to develop oil concessions on a combined total of 60 million acres with an estimated 280 million bbl of proved reserves. The plan calls for Phase 1 production of 40,000 b/d by...

TECO Coalbed Methane Inc. (acquires methane gas properties) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... TECO Coalbed Methane Inc., a unit of TECO Energy Inc., Tampa, agreed to buy all of Transco Energy Co. unit Magnolia Methane Corp.'s coalbed methane gas properties in Alabama's Black Warrior basin. Sale is for $15.5 million cash plus...

BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. (drilling contracts) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. let two 3 year contracts to support a 16 well infill drilling program in North Sea Forties field. Baker Hughes Ltd., London, won a 12 million [pounds] ($18 million) contract for well construction work. A 22...

Oakridge Energy Inc. (sells gas leases) (Brief Article)
July 19, 1993... Oakridge Energy Inc., Wichita Falls, Tex., agreed to sell its producing gas leases in Edwards and Sutton counties, Tex., for $21.5 million cash to Cometra Oil & Gas Inc., a unit of American Cometra Inc., Fort Worth. Sale is subject to...