The Oil and Gas Journal articles from March 1996

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from March 1996

Oil prices have broken $25/bbl the first time since the Persian Gulf war.(oil refiners sold some stocks, traders bet on Iraq entering the market)(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Oil prices have broken $25/bbl the first time since the Persian Gulf war. Refiners maintaining just in time stocks amid heavy late winter demand and traders gambling Iraq would be allowed to sell some oil soon were keys to a startling bull run...

New statistics from the U.K. Health and Safety executive (HSE) show Britain's offshore industry has made a huge improvement in safety standards the past 6 years.(petroleum industry)(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... New statistics from the U.K. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show Britain's offshore industry has made a huge improvement in safety standards the past 6 years, says U.K. Offshore Operators Association (Ukooa). U.K. offshore operators have...

Canadian drilling looks to be strong in 1996.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Canadian drilling looks to be strong in 1996, with predictions of a 10% increase from earlier estimates to 11,300 wells. The projected total by the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (Caodc) would be the third year in a row...

China continues to pursue oil business opportunities outside its borders.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... China continues to pursue oil business opportunities outside its borders. Serbian state oil firm NIS has signed a $1 billion barter deal with China's Sinochem, marking the biggest Serbian oil transaction since the U.N. lifted economic...

U.S. independents continue to chase opportunities outside the U.S.(petroleum industry)(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... U.S. independents continue to chase opportunities outside the U.S. (OGJ, Mar. 4, p. 31, and Mar. 11, p. 33). Triton, aggressively expanding its international portfolio (see related story, p. 27), has signed its second production sharing...

MMS is trying to correct reports in the Mexican press that a record water depth wildcat a Shell group plans in the Gulf of Mexico may be in Mexican waters.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... MMS is trying to correct reports in the Mexican press that a record water depth wildcat a Shell group plans in the Gulf of Mexico may be in Mexican waters (see map, OGJ, Mar. 18, p. 36). MMS says Mexican newspapers interpreted the approximate...

U.S. oil production dropped 4.6% in February to 6,450,000 b/d, API reports.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... U.S. oil production dropped 4.6% in February to 6,450,000 b/d, API reports. While Alaska production fell 5.1% from a year ago, it was at its highest level, 1.5 million b/d, in more than 6 months. Total petroleum products supplied to the U.S....

EPA has issued a final rule that lifts the cap on summer oxygen content in reformulated gasoline.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Politics and petroleum fuels remain a volatile mix. EPA has issued a final rule that lifts the cap on summer oxygen content in reformulated gasoline (RFG) under federal clean air programs. This allows ethanol to be blended with gasoline at...

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) claims 15 of the biggest U.S. refiner/marketers are shinning Ethyl Corp.'s gasoline additive MMT.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) claims 15 of the biggest U.S. refiner/marketers are shunning Ethyl Corp.'s gasoline additive MMT (OGJ, Mar. 18, Newsletter). EPA opposes use of the additive, and in February EDF asked oil companies to pledge not...

Petroleum marketers have blasted a provision in President Clinton's 1997 budget that would put a tax on kerosine.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Petroleum marketers have blasted a provision in President Clinton's 1997 budget that would put a tax on kerosine. Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) called the proposal a "hidden tax" on millions of U.S. homeowners, farmers, and...

The transition to second phase RFG in California is proving very smooth.(reformulated gasoline)(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... The transition to second phase RFG in California is proving very smooth, however. All 13 refineries producing Phase II RFG met construction deadlines and began moving the new gasoline to market on schedule Mar. 1, says California Air Resources...

Gasoline will continue to hold onto its transportation fuel market share in California, at least for the near term.(OJC Newsletter)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Meantime, gasoline will continue to hold onto its transportation fuel market share in California, at least for the near term. CARB will rule soon on a staff proposal to eliminate the first two of three deadlines for requiring sale of electric...

The challenges of growth.(oil supplies and demand)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 25, 1996... If oil and gas supplies are to meet expected demand, geophysical contractors need to get busy. For operating companies, this means higher costs for services that many still view as cost-cutting measures. Contractors, notes Matthew R....

More ethanol politics.(Environmental Protection Agency is pushing ethanol for political reasons)(Editorial)
March 25, 1996... "The reformulated gasoline program is one of the most significant steps under the Clean Air Act to protect public health by combating urban smog." So declares Carol M. Browner, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It...

Shakeout gathers momentum in Europe's refining sector.(many petroleum refining companies to merge or close)
March 25, 1996... European refiners in recent years have often complained of puny profits because of surplus refining capacity. It is an industry truism that some refiners continue to operate only because it is cheaper to keep plants running than to shut them...

Wood Mackenzie assesses effect of new EC auto fuel rules on refiners.(consulting firm predicts)
March 25, 1996... The European Commission in a few months will propose changes to motor fuel specifications arising from a joint study by EC and the oil and automotive industries. EC, the European Petroleum Industry Association (Europia), and European Motor...

Norway orders platform removal.(Odin field platform not to be turned into an artificial reef)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Norway's Ministry of Industry & Energy has surprised the North Sea petroleum industry by insisting that a platform in Odin field, which stopped producing in August 1994, be completely removed. Odin operator Esso Norge AS submitted a...

Texaco-Tenneco combine seeks gas in Poland.(Tenneco Energy, joint venture)
March 25, 1996... Texaco Inc. and Tenneco Energy, though a joint company, have begun exploring a 1.18 million acre concession in Central Poland, southwest of Warsaw. The partners aim to explore Permian Rotliegendes gas intervals at 3,500-5,000 m on the...

Triton sharpens focus on non-U.S. projects.(Triton Energy Corp.'s exploration and development activity)
March 25, 1996... Triton Energy Corp., Dallas, is advancing exploration and development programs in its core international arenas in the Gulf of Thailand and Colombia. Triton disclosed the activity this month as it announced the sale of its last oil and gas...

EIA predicts OPEC's return to prowess.(Energy Information Administration, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)
March 25, 1996... The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is about to regain its dominance in world oil supply. However, EIA says in its latest short term energy outlook, OPEC members may have to...

Tangible benefits of virtual reality.(in construction of petroleum drilling platform)(Column)
March 25, 1996... Visits to North Sea platforms normally involve a journey of at least an hour in a hot, noisy helicopter. All passengers have to wear a rubberized survival suit that would not be out of place in a medieval torture chamber. My most recent...

El Paso plans to resolve turnback dilemma.(El Paso Natural Gas Co., California turnback of interstate gas pipeline supply)
March 25, 1996... El Paso Natural Gas Co. has proposed a settlement designed to resolve its problems with California customers turning back much of its interstate gas pipeline capacity. El Paso filed a comprehensive rate settlement with the Federal Energy...

U.S. - Canadian pipeline slates novel open season.(Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC)
March 25, 1996... Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC plans an innovative open season for services in Phase 2 of its proposed U.S.-Canadian gas pipeline system. During a period that began Mar. 18 and will end Apr. 17, the pipeline's potential customers in...

Esso gains more Tarim basin acreage.(China National Petroleum Corp. award to Esso China Upstream Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has awarded exploration rights on two large adjoining blocks in the Northwest Tarim basin to a unit of Exxon Corp. Esso China Upstream Ltd. plans to begin a 2D seismic survey on the acreage as soon as...

Conoco plans exploration campaign off Taiwan.(Conoco Inc. in conjunction with Chinese Petroleum Corp. will explore for oil and gas)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Conoco Inc. and Taiwan's state owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) have agreed to jointly explore for oil and gas in three areas in the Taiwan Strait off Taiwan. The agreement was disclosed last week against a backdrop of increasing military...

BP plans to sell marginal oil fields in U.K. North Sea.(BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd.)
March 25, 1996... BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. has joined the rush by parent British Petroleum Co. plc to sell its least profitable assets. The British Petroleum upstream unit posted "for sale" signs on four aging U.K. North Sea oil fields and four...

TRI reporting.(the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory program)
March 25, 1996... The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a proposal that could require larger U.S. oil fields to disclose their toxic emissions to the public. Under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program, large manufacturers must report their...

Big contract let for LNG export project in Quatar.(Ras Laffan Liquified Natural Gas Co. awards $1 billion contract to JGC Corp of Japan and M.W. Kellogg of US)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. last week disclosed the award of a $1 billion contract for engineering, procurement, and construction of a gas liquefaction plant in Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial area on the Persian Gulf coast. The...

Automakers' fuel specs trouble U.S. refiners.
March 25, 1996... Motor fuel specifications proposed by U.S. automakers are causing mounting concern among the nation's refiners. That was apparent last week in San Antonio when members of the National Petroleum Refiners Association gathered for their annual...

Texas Petroleum Co. (gas production platform offshore Columbia to enter service by end of 1996)(Drilling-Production)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Texas Petroleum Co., the Colombian unit of Texaco Inc., is ahead of schedule for planned start-up of a second production platform it is installing off Colombia's Caribbean coast. Plans call for the platform in Chuchupa gas field off La Guajira...

Kazakhstan's. (Parastatal Co. Batys lets contract for wheat-to-ethanol plant to Technip-Spiechim)(Alternate Fuels)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Kazakhstan's Parastatal Co. Batys let contract to France's Technip-Spiechim for a $20 million wheat to ethanol plant at Uralsk, Northwest Kazakhstan. Capacity of the plant, slated for start-up in 1998, is to be 100,000 I./day. In addition,...

Valero Refining Co. (lets hydrogen supply contract to Air Liquide America Corp.)(Refining)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Valero Refining Co., San Antonio, let a long term contract to Air Liquide America Corp., Houston, to supply 15 MMscfd of high purity hydrogen to its Corpus Christi, Tex., refinery via a new Air Liquide pipeline to be completed by yearend 1996....

Amoco Egypt Ras El Barr BV. (production figures for Nile Delta gas well)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Amoco Egypt Ras El Barr BV 1 Ha'py new pool wildcat in the Nile Delta region cut 260 ft of gross pay in three Pliocene zones at 5,180-5,400 ft. The well flowed on tests of the three zones at rates of 57 MMcfd, 17 MMcfd, and 13 MMcfd, along with...

Total. (and Amoco gauge light oil at northeast Venezuela field)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Total 55% and Amoco Corp. 45% gauged a combined 14,200 b/d of light oil from two zones at 5,000 m in a deeper pay discovery on the Jusepin oil field permit in Northeast Venezuela. The permit was assigned the two companies under Venezuela's...

PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. (in farmout deal concerning exploration of Oryx Energy Co. acreage in UK North Sea)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, acquired a farmout on about 50% of U.K. North Sea exploration acreage held by Oryx Energy Co., Dallas, in return for PanCanadian funding a $55 million exploration and appraisal program the next 3-4 years....

Total SA. (finds more gas in south Sumatra)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Total SA found more gas near the Corridor block gas project in South Sumatra, interest owner Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. reported. Total's 1 Bungkal wildcat flowed 36.5 MMcfd of gas with 60% CO2 content from four zones. The well is on South...

UMC Pakistan Corp. (obtains exploration license in Pakistan)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... UMC Pakistan Corp., a unit of United Meridian Corp., Houston, obtained an exploration license in Pakistan. It covers 7,480 sq km in the Gawadar district and off Meran in Baluchistan. UMC will conduct geological and seismic studies and drill...

Norway's. (Saga Petroleum AS to gather seismic data offshore Norway)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Norway's Saga Petroleum AS plans to acquire 3D seismic data covering almost 2,500 sq km off Norway beginning in April. It chartered the MV SeisRanger seismic vessel from Geco Prakla to carry out the work, consisting of three surveys of three...

Abacan Resource Corp. (plans wildcat well offshore Nigeria)(Exploration)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Abacan Resource Corp., Calgary, plans a wildcat on Block 309 in the Benin basin off Nigeria. The Sedco Forex Trident VIII jack up will drill the well to TVD of 12,500 ft in about 295 ft of water 28 miles offshore. The 413,000 acre block is near...

OMV AG. (raises gas imports from Russia's Gazprom to Austria)(Exports-Imports)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... OMV AG, Vienna, increased by 17.5 bcf/year the volume of gas it imports from Russia's Gazprom. This will hike OMV's imports of Russian gas to 192.5 bcf/year. The Austrian state company also imports 52.5 bcf/year from Norway. Along with OMV's...

Tongyang Nylon Co. (chooses Union Carbide's Unipol process for S. Korea polypropylene plant)(Petrochemicals)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Tongyang Nylon Co., Seoul, chose Union Carbide Corp.'s Unipol process for a planned 110,000 metric ton/year polypropylene plant at its Ulsan, South Korea, petrochemical complex. The unit is scheduled for completion in 1997. The plant will be...

Borealis AS. (to expand Porvoo, Finland ethylene plant's cracker capacity)(Petrochemicals)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Borealis AS, Copenhagen, will expand cracker capacity at its Porvoo, Finland, ethylene plant with an $88 million project. This will raise ethylene capacity by 25% to 290,000 metric tons/year and propylene capacity by 20% to 170,000 tons/year....

Sasol Ltd. (to build air separation plant to supply company's Sasolburg, South Africa, petrochemical plant)(Petrochemicals)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Sasol Ltd., Johannesburg, plans to spend $100 million for a new air separation plant to provide oxygen and nitrogen for its coal based petrochemical plant at Sasolburg, South Africa. The new unit will produce 2,100 tons/day of oxygen, 1,400...

Japan Canada Oil Sands Ltd. (to reactivate Alberta, Canada, project)(Oilsands)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Japan Canada Oil Sands Ltd. will spend as much as $69 million (Canadian) in 1997 to reactivate a dormant Alberta oilsands project. A pilot project using steam assisted gravity drainage and horizontal drilling at Hangingstone, Alta., 28 miles...

British Gas PLC. (natural gas well production)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... British Gas plc started production of 30 MMcfd of gas from a single well in Dolphin gas field on Block 6 off Trinidad. The 1 tcf field was discovered in 1976, 55 miles off Trinidad's southeast coast. A second well was spudded Mar. 13 from the...

Dominion Reserves Inc. (investments in Gulf of Mexico natural gas blocks)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Dominion Reserves Inc., a unit of Dominion Energy Inc., Richmond, Va., 75% and American Exploration Co. (Amex), Houston, 25% purchased working interests in five Gulf of Mexico blocks from a private seller for $56 million. Involved are a total...

Noble Drilling Corp. (to purchase Royal Nedloyd NV's oil drilling unit)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Noble Drilling Corp., Houston, signed a letter of intent to acquire the Neddrill drilling unit of Royal Nedlloyd NV, Rotterdam, for $300 million cash and 5 million shares of Noble common stock. The combined companies would be one of the biggest...

Pride Petroleum Services Inc. (to purchase Quitral Co.)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Pride Petroleum Services Inc., Houston, signed a letter of intent to acquire Quitral-Co. SAIC from Argentina's Perez Companc SA, Astra Capsa, and other shareholders for about $140 million in cash and notes. Quitral-Co. is the biggest drilling...

Workfox BV. (purchased Transocean AS's Transocean 4 accommodation semisubmersible unit)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Workfox BV, Ijmuiden, Netherlands, acquired the Transocean 4 accommodation semisubmersible unit from Transocean AS. Tananger, Norway, for $2.8 million plus $1.9 million for contracts arranged to 1999. Transocean sold its only accommodation rig...

Betz Laboratories Inc. (purchases W.R. Grace & Co.'s Dearborn business unit)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Betz Laboratories Inc., Trevose, Pa., agreed to acquire the Dearborn business unit of W.R. Grace & Co. for $632 million. Dearborn supplies water and process treatment chemicals to the petroleum industry. The boards of both companies have...

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. (takeover of Alberta Natural Gas Co.)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, completed a takeover of Alberta Natural Gas Co. (ANG), Calgary. More than 85% of shareholders of the chemical and pipeline company took a cash offer of $26.25 (Canadian)/share in a share or cash offer by...

Canada's National Energy Board. (crude oil pipeline leaks fixed by reducing pressure)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Canada's National Energy Board ordered Interprovincial Pipe Line Ltd., Calgary, to reduce pressure on a section of its crude oil pipeline, which has experienced four leaks since 1989. The 121 mile section, built in 1968, extends from Odessa,...

Portland natural gas transmission system. (Portland, Maine)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (Pngts), Portland, Me., filed with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a certificate to construct and operate a 242 mile, 20 in. gas pipeline from a connection with TransCanada PipeLines at the...

Mobil Pipe Line Co. (agreement with Texaco Pipeline Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Mobil Pipe Line Co. is negotiating an agreement with Texaco Pipeline Inc. to connect Mobil's Midcontinent crude oil pipeline system to the Cushing, Okla., crude oil distribution and trading hub. Mobil wants to lay a 100,000 b/d spur from its...

Pacific Enterprises International. (invests in gas utility holding companies Sodigas Pampeana SA and Sodigas Sur SA)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Pacific Enterprises International (PEI), Los Angeles, agreed to buy a 12.5% interest in each of two Argentine gas utility holding companies. This will be the first non-U.S. investment in a local gas distribution company (LDC) for Pacific...

KN Energy Inc. (forms the Hub Association of North America with Market Hub Partners)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... KN Energy Inc., Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd., and Market Hub Partners formed the Hub Association of North America (HANA), a nonprofit Delaware corporation with operating headquarters in Houston. HANA will develop and promote technical advances,...

Changing tax system challenges producers and refiners in Russia.(OGJ Special: Russia's Petroleum Progress)
March 25, 1996... Over the past several years, economics of the Russian oil industry has undergone considerable change reflecting the radical transformation of the country's core industry from a wholly state-run and heftily subsidized distribution system toward...

Russian refining shows signs of revival, needs investment.(OGJ Special: Russia's Petroleum Progress)
March 25, 1996... The Russian refining industry appears ready for a comeback but needs investment from abroad. After 7 years of annual decline, output of petroleum products in the former Soviet Union (FSU), most of it from Russian refineries, is estimated to...

Improvements in progress for Russia's new PSA law.(production sharing agreements)(OGJ Special: Russia's Petroleum Progress)
March 25, 1996... Russian legislation making production sharing agreements (PSAs) fully legal under Russian law passed the upper house of the Russian Parliament (Federal Council) on Dec. 19, 1995, was signed into law by President Boris Yeltsin on Dec. 31, 1995,...

Gazprom follows unique course to privatization.(natural gas industry)(OGJ Special: Russia's Petroleum Progress)
March 25, 1996... While world attention tends to focus on privatization struggles of the Russian oil industry, the natural gas industry travels a different but also bumpy course toward market economics. Unlike the oil industry, Russian gas is dominated by an...

U.S. horizontal wells show varied production performance.
March 25, 1996... Production performance analysis indicates that the Austin chalk trend is the only area in the U.S. with a significant amount of successful horizontal wells. Results in other areas have been highly variable and even within the sizable Austin...

Extended-length downhole mud motor designed for more power.(positive displacement motor)
March 25, 1996... A new positive displacement motor (PDM) designed with an extended power section has several advantages over standard mud motors run alone or in tandem. Laboratory tests during design analysis and field tests have indicated these motors can...

Nonlinear analysis method can improve pipeline design.
March 25, 1996... A nonlinear engineering method for analyzing pipe stress criteria has been developed and can be used in common spreadsheet software for pipeline design. Designs based on this method can enhance the operational reliability of pipeline systems...

Economic forces push down selling prices of U.S. refineries.(American Appraisal Associates report)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Recent data on U.S. refinery sales reveal that selling prices have continued to decline in the 1990s. Reasons for this decrease include increased plant investments to meet regulatory requirements, excess refining capacity, increased imports...

TGS-Calibre Geophysical Co.(Hank Hamilton, chief executive)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... TGS-Calibre Geophysical Co., Houston, Tex., has named Hank Hamilton chief executive officer. Hamilton formerly served as vice president and general manager with GECO-PRAKLA NSA region and with Shell Offshore, Inc. He has expertise in...

Parsons Process Group Inc.(William E. Hall, president)(Brief Article)
March 25, 1996... Parsons Process Group Inc., a recently formed global business unit of The Parsons Corp., has named William E. Hall president. Parsons Process consolidated the engineering and construction firm's petroleum and chemical processing capabilities...

Reefal petroleum prospects possible in Pakistan.
March 25, 1996... Carbonate buildups including reefs and banks have proven to be prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Seismic interpretation, particularly of high quality marine data,...

Will a bullish outlook for gas prices this year spur North American gas drilling?(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Will a bullish outlook for gas prices this year spur North American gas drilling? The need to refill severely depleted inventories of gas in storage will help keep a prop under demand this year, keeping prices at their highest level in more...

The U.S. gas industry is staying the course toward establishing a more user friendly, customer responsive, seamless gas production, transportation, and distribution system. (Gas Industry Standards Board's executive committee approves standards for electronic exchange of marketing data)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... The U.S. gas industry is staying the course toward establishing a more user friendly, customer responsive, seamless gas production, transportation, and distribution system. Members of the Gas Industry Standards Board executive committee,...

Five companies have applied ... for exploration licences in the Fylla area off western Greenland. (gas/oil companies seek licenses from Denmark's Raw Materials Administration)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Offshore frontiers continue to hold industry in thrall. Five companies have applied to Denmark's Raw Materials Administration for exploration licenses in the Fylla area off western Greenland, says applicant Statoil. The Norwegian state firm...

Almost 400 oil and gas prospects have been identified off northern Russia, and while most have not been drilled, it is evident major hydrocarbon resources are there. (views of Smith Rea Energy Analysts)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Almost 400 oil and gas prospects have been identified off northern Russia, and while most have not been drilled, it is evident major hydrocarbon resources are there. This is the view of Smith Rea Energy Analysts, Canterbury, U.K., which...

Shell's new Nigerian unit could have a major deepwater oil strike. (Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Co.)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Shell's new Nigerian unit could have a major deepwater oil strike. Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Co. (Snepco) 1 Bongo wildcat found oil on deepwater License 212 off Nigeria. Speculation is rife of a big discovery, but Shell says...

Exxon has agreed with two Japanese steelmakers to commercialize technology it is developing and patenting to produce weldable steels significantly stronger than those used in petroleum industry applications today. (Nippon Steel; Sumitomo Metal)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... 1 Exxon has agreed with two Japanese steelmakers to commercialize technology it is developing and patenting to produce weldable steels significantly stronger than those used in petroleum industry applications today. The focus will be on...

BP plans to jump capital spending by $1 billion/year in order to hike profits 50% to $4.5 billion by 2000.(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... BP plans to jump capital spending by $1 billion/year in order to hike profits 50% to $4.5 billion by 2000. CEO John Browne told analysts in London last week the aim is to boost profits via increased capital outlays in the period to $6...

Buckyballs revisited. (fullerene)
March 18, 1996... A decade ago in Houston scientists from Rice University and the University of Sussex made the electrifying discovery of a third elemental form of carbon. Until then chemists believed that only two forms existed: diamond and graphite,...

The subsalt technology play. (Gulf of Mexico oil/gas drilling)(Editorial)
March 18, 1996... Undue pressures have developed over the Gulf of Mexico's latest round of subsalt drilling. Explorationists involved in the play fear that future confidence of investors and skeptical analysts depends on results from five wildcats under way now....

OPEC, its market share static, keeps wary eye on Iraq-U.N. talks.
March 18, 1996... OPEC, its market share static, keeps wary eye on Iraq-U.N. talks Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are keeping a close watch on talks between Iraq and the United Nations on partial lifting of the U.N. ban on exports...

DOE approves three sales of crude from SPR. (Strategic Petroleum Reserve; sale proceeds to pay for closure of Weeks Island, LA, storage site)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... 2 The U.S. Department of Energy has approved three sales of crude oil from the Weeks Island, La., Strategic Petroleum Reserve site. DOE is dosing the 72 million bbl site because of a fracture in the salt formation above the oil storage...

Significant E&D projects fan out across gulf.(exploration and development projects in the Gulf of Mexico)
March 18, 1996... Gulf of Mexico operators last week disclosed a flurry of news on significant exploration and development projects. Here's what's happening, moving from west to east across the gulf: * Shell Offshore Inc. and three partners plan late this...

Nabors to expand drilling, service fleet.(Nabors Industries, Houston, TX to acquire Exeter Drilling Co., Denver, CO, and J.W. Gibson Well Service Co., Englewood, CO, from Occidental Oil and Gas Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Nabors Industries, Houston, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Exeter Drilling Co., Denver, and J.W. Gibson Well Service Co., Englewood, Colo., from Occidental Oil & Gas Corp. Expected to close at the end of April, the deal is...

California refinery RFG modifications finished by Unocal.(Unocal Corp. refitted San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA refineries to produce reformulated gasoline)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Unocal Corp.'s 76 Products Co. has completed modifications at its Los Angeles and San Francisco area refineries designed to produce reformulated gasoline (RFG) to the newest California specifications. The work was finished ahead of schedule...

Defending WTO.(World Trade Organization)(Watching Government)(Column)
March 18, 1996... Although conservatives are attacking U.S. membership in the year old World Trade Organization, WTO had many supporters at a House ways and means committee hearing. U.S. Trade Rep. Mickey Kantor insisted WTO does not infringe on U.S....

Phillips Petroleum International Exploration Inc.(contract with South African National Oil Co.)(Industry Briefs)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Phillips Petroleum International Exploration Inc. signed a technical cooperation agreement with South Africa National Oil Co., gaining exclusive rights to assess oil and gas potential on Blocks 17 and 18 covering 15 million acres in the Indian...

Hunt Oil Co.(exploratory drilling in the English Channel)(Industry Briefs)(Brief Article)
March 18, 1996... Hunt Oil Co. Apr. 1 will spud a wildcat in French waters of the English Channel to test a prospect on trend with the U.K.'s producing Wytch Farm oil field. The $6 million 2 Pointe de Barfleur well is projected to 1,500 m 48 km off Barfleur on...