The Oil and Gas Journal articles from March 1998

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from March 1998

Oil prices are poised for a continued slide as more supplies are due to enter the market from Iraq and OPEC remains in disarray.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Oil prices are poised for a continued slide as more supplies are due to enter the market from Iraq and OPEC remains in disarray. U.N. Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan has brokered an agreement between Iraq and the U.N. that may end the impasse over...

Sagging oil prices are forcing major oil companies to rethink e&p budgets in the coming year.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Sagging oil prices are forcing major oil companies to rethink E&P budgets in the coming year. Royal Dutch/Shell top executives warn that current oil prices are chipping away at return on capital. Low prices are also hurting emerging...

It appears Asian economic flu symptoms may be less problematic for some Singapore refiners than others.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... It appears Asian economic flu symptoms may be less problematic for some Singapore refiners than others. Mobil and Singapore Refining Co. increased throughput to 280,000 b/d and 285,000 b/d, respectively, this month, as Esso and Shell continued...

Western companies continue their stampede into the Caspian Sea region.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Western companies continue their stampede into the Caspian Sea region. Chevron and RD/Shell have formed a 50-50 alliance to identify and develop new projects in the Caspian Sea region. A framework agreement the companies signed in...

Conoco and Azeri state oil company (Socar) will conduct a 6-month study.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Conoco and Azeri state oil company (Socar) will conduct a 6-month study to determine commercial viability of gathering, processing, and transporting the country's natural gas and gas liquids for domestic consumption and export sales.

Gazprom and Italy's ENI have signed an accord.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Gazprom and Italy's ENI have signed an accord that could lead to $2-3 billion worth of contracts for the exploitation of oil and gas deposits in Russia. The strategic alliance, comparable to one Gazprom has with RD/Shell, will promote...

Although Russian oil exports grew to 127 million metric tons last year.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Although Russian oil exports grew to 127 million metric tons last year, a 1 million ton increase from 1996, lower oil prices shaved $1.2 billion in revenues vs. 1996, according to the country's Ministry for External Economic Relations. ...

Poland's government has listed the country's largest oil refinery and its gasoline retail network among assets to be privatized towards yearend.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Poland's government has listed the country's largest oil refinery and itsgasoline retail network among assets to be privatized towards yearend. A deputy treasury minister reportedly told parliament the sales would be through a public...

There are more signs that the recently elected Norwegian government is keen to put the brakes on offshore developments.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... There are more signs that the recently elected Norwegian government is keen to put the brakes on offshore developments and put environmental concerns above oil industry goals on its agenda. Norway's Saga Petroleum has been told to stall...

India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will ask parliament next month to amend its policy on awarding oil and gas production-sharing contracts.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will ask parliament next month to amend its policy on awarding oil and gas production-sharing contracts to private-sector firms. Official sources say the time is ripe to change the policy, but that...

The Papua New Guinea government has halted all natural gas projects pending legislation to regulate the industry.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... The Papua New Guinea government has halted all natural gas projects pending legislation to regulate the industry. No projects, including a $2 billion (Australian) Chevron-led 1,900 km pipeline from Papua New Guinea to Queensland, will go...

Is ownership of drilling rigs once again becoming a viable option, or even a necessity, for exploration-driven operators?(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Is ownership of drilling rigs once again becoming a viable option, or even a necessity, for exploration-driven operators? With drilling rig market tightness showing no signs of loosening, and long-term charters tying up many rigs, one...

One the the biggest mergers in petroleum industry history involves two giants of the service/supply sector.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... One of the biggest mergers in petroleum industry history involves two giants of the service/supply sector and points to the continuing trend of integrating oil field services and engineering and construction services. Halliburton Co. and...

Follow the leader. (oil industry technology development)(Editorial)
March 2, 1998... The oil industry receives very little credit or acknowledgment for its technological achievements, yet we continue to build intricate devices and manipulate massive amounts of information that most industries would consider unthinkable. ...

The strengthening of Iraq.(Editorial)
March 2, 1998... The threat from Baghdad to Middle East stability remains. Last week's deal by United Nations Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan just gave an unfocused U.S. reason not to unleash the military might it had amassed around Iraq. Newly negotiated access by U.N....

Nonstandard reserves estimates lead to resource underestimation.
March 2, 1998... The U.S. practice, under Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) rules, of publishing only proved reserves estimates, and the practice of under-emphasizing probable and possible estimates--for example by referring to them collectively as...

Unocal comfirms Indonesian deepwater strike.
March 2, 1998... Unocal Indonesia Co. has gauged a large flow rate in a deepwater step-out off East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Merah Besar 5 well flowed at a rate of 9,430 b/d of oil and 7.4 MMcfd through a 1 1/8-in, choke with flowing tubing pressure of 900...

OMV discloses major gas find in Pakistan.
March 2, 1998... OMV (Pakistan) Exploration GmbH has disclosed a gas find in Pakistan's Sindh province. Reserves are tentatively pegged at more than 1 tcf. The operator, a unit of Vienna's OMV AG, said 1 Sawan wildcat was spudded on Southwest Miano block in...

Petrofina group to explore deep water off Angola.(Brief Article)
March 2, 1998... Angola has awarded an exploration permit for offshore Block 19 to a group led by Petrofina SA. The 1.2 million-acre deepwater block is 30 miles south of Block 17, where major oil companies have reported oil discoveries believed to contain oil...

U.S. Justice Department joins suit alleging royalty fraud.
March 2, 1998... The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has joined in a private lawsuit that alleges four oil companies knowingly undervalued, oil production in order to lower the royalties they paid the U.S. and other landowners. U.S. Atty. Mike Bradford of...

Policy advice.
March 2, 1998... The Energy Department is being flooded with advice regarding its new energy strategy (OGJ, Feb. 23, 1998, p. 34). At a recent Washington, D.C., hearing, energy association officials predictably argued the policy should not disadvantage their...

BLM continues stripper well royalty break.
March 2, 1998... The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is extending for 5 years a program that allows federal "stripper" oil production at a reduced royalty rate. Bob Armstrong, assistant Interior secretary, said "BLM's royalty rate reduction has proven itself...

EC adopts offshore platform dumping ban.
March 2, 1998... The European Commission (EC) has adopted a recommendation that derelict offshore oil and gas platforms should not be dumped in European waters. The initiative came from Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard and Energy Commissioner...

Are oil markets still clinging to hope that OPEC will act to east the oil price slump?(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Are oil markets still clinging to hope that OPEC will act to ease the oil price slump? Voicing growing alarm among some energy analysts that oil prices will fall, Centre for Global Energy Studies Executive Director Fadhil Chalabi said,...

The French government and oil industry leaders are pushing for an end to trade sanctions against Iraq.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... The French government and oil industry leaders are pushing for an end to trade sanctions against Iraq, following last week's U.N.-brokered deal that forestalled a military strike on the part of a U.S.-led coalition. France is lobbying...

BHP hopes U.S.-Iran relations will warm enough for the Australian company to secure a multi-billion-dollar project linking natural gas fields in southern Iraq with Pakistan.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... BHP hopes U.S.-Iran relations will warm enough for the Australian company to secure a multi-billion-dollar project linking natural gas fields in southern Iran with Pakistan. Talks were reportedly being held between BHP, National Iranian...

Meger mania is far from over.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Merger mania is far from over. Following closely on the heels of last week's gargantuan marriage of Halliburton and Dresser Industries (OGJ, Mar. 2, 1998, Newsletter) is the $2.6 billion merger of EVI and Weatherford Enterra. The combination...

Chevron's bid to bring life its Destin Dome 56 gas project.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Chevron's bid to bring to life its Destin Dome 56 gas project off Florida's coast has hit a wall of opposition from state officials. Florida denied Chevron's development application, saying the company did not provide enough information to...

London's Centre for Global Energy.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... London's Centre for Global Energy Studies has spotted signs of recovery in Asia's hard-hit economies and expects economic growth to return, but at a restrained level. "Oil consumption in these countries," said CGES, "is expected to grow...

Royal Dutch/Shell has decided to sell its entire upstream interests in Thailand.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Royal Dutch/Shell has decided to sell its entire upstream interests in Thailand, including the kingdom's first onshore oil field, Sirikit. Shell said it wants to focus on larger-scale E&P activities elsewhere and in Thailand, where it has been...

The Russian government has pushed oil giant Rosneft a step nearer to privatization.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... The Russian government has pushed oil giant Rosneft a step nearer to privatization with the appointment of London's Dresdner Kleinwort Benson (DKB) to set the share price. Russian officials reportedly expect Rosneft shares to sell for a...

Defusing the millennium bomb.(Editorial)
March 9, 1998... There are 662 more days before the calendar reads Jan. 1, 2000. When the millennium arrives, will computer chips, microprocessors, and programs cope with the date change? They'd better. The "millennium bug" sneaks undetected into...

Sale 169 and the long view.(Editorial)
March 9, 1998... Auctions of federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico lately have been more interesting after the fact than before. Outer Continental Shelf Sale 169, scheduled Mar. 18 for the gulf's central area, is an exception. In the wake of last...

Central Asian FSU republics set to expand oil export pipeline network.
March 9, 1998... The oil industry in the central Asian/Caspian Sea region of the former Soviet Union is entering an exciting new phase as governments look to exploit massive reserves. This phase is characterized by increased foreign investment,...

Gas marketing.
March 9, 1998... Last week the Independent Petroleum Association of America sued the Minerals Management Service to overturn a regulation governing transportation costs for gas produced on federal lands. IPAA said the rule, which went into effect Feb. 1, no...

Central Asian FSU petrochem project contracts awarded.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Investment in the petrochemical sector of the central Asian states of the former Soviet Union is accelerating, with contracts awarded for major projects in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Japanese companies and lending institutions play...

OPEC schedules emergency quota meeting.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Rattled by the recent fall in crude oil prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has called an emergency meeting of ministers for Mar. 16. Saudi Arabia has publicly declared itself willing to cut back oil production,...

Interest high for Gulf of Mexico lease sale.
March 9, 1998... The Mar. 18 central Gulf of Mexico offshore lease sale promises to be another strong one, industry observers say. They predict operators will aggressively seek more leases at the New Orleans sale, despite the facts that many companies have a...

EPA to cut field, gas line air emissions.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to require oil and gas production, and gas transmission and storage, facilities to substantially reduce emissions of several hazardous air pollutants. It said emissions of...

Latvia preps for first licensing round.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Latvia plans to announce its first licensing round this summer, with areas on offer expected to include both Baltic Sea and onshore blocks. The State Geological Survey of Latvia has contracted PGS Reservoir AS, Oslo, to help prepare a...

Production ship/tanker JV targets drilling.
March 9, 1998... Norwegian production ship/tanker fleet operator Navion AS aims to expand into the drilling market and to develop new floater technologies. Stavanger-based Navion is owned 80% by Norway's state firm Statoil and 20% by Rasmussen Offshore AS,...

Asian woes, Kyoto, OPEC top 1997 oil trends.
March 9, 1998... For the first time in a decade, all major world regions experienced growth in demand for oil--a 1.86 million b/d increase worldwide--while demand patterns seesawed unpredictably from region to region in 1997. Especially surprising was the...

Europe prepares for euro 'big bang.'
March 9, 1998... While the petroleum industry wrestles with the Year 2000 problem in computer systems, European firms have the extra hassle of the European Union's (EU's) planned move to a single currency. The European Commission (EC) has published...

Canadian M&A activity sets record in 1997.
March 9, 1998... Canadian oil and gas industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 1997 reached a record $16.3 billion (Canadian), 60% higher than the previous record of $10.2 billion set in 1996. Reserve acquisition prices were also at an all-time high with...

Syntroleum Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Syntroleum Corp. was inadvertently omitted as group leader of a project to develop a $240 million gas-to-liquids plant in Sweetwater County, Wyo. (OGJ, Mar. 2, 1998, p. 60). Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corp. and SLH Corp. are participants in...

Ingleside Cogeneration LP.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Ingleside Cogeneration LP let a turnkey contact to Duke Energy Corp. and Fluor Daniel Corp. for design and construction of a 440 MW natural gas-fired cogeneration power plant near Ingleside, Tex. Igleside Cogeneration is a joint venture of...

U.K. gas regulator.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... U.K. gas regulator Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas) now reckons it can open the last of Britain's residential gas market to competition 1 month earlier than planned. Clare Spottiswoode, director general of Ofgas, said 3.1 million homes in Greater...

Nigeria National Petroleum Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. began maintenance of the Port Harcourt refinery fluid catalytic cracking unit last month. The unit was scheduled for maintenance to boost capacity after the Kaduna refinery was shut down. Although the government...

Sinclair Oil Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Sinclair Oil Corp. let a turnkey contract to the Foxboro Co., Foxboro, Mass., for a refinery automation system at its 54,000 b/d refinery at Sinclair, Wyo. The system will consist of an I/A Series controller, intelligent instruments integration,...

Shell Oil Products Co.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Shell Oil Products Co. signed a $1.2 million, multi-year non-cancelable license agreement with Simulation Sciences Inc., Brea, Calif. The deal covers software license and maintenance fees. Under terms of the agreement, Shell will license SimSci's...

Shell Deepwater Development Systems Inc.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Shell Deepwater Development Systems Inc. let contract to Ceanic Inc., formerly American Oilfield Divers Inc., to design, build, test, and operate a deepwater pipeline burial system for the Ursa and Angus project pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico....

Canada's National Energy Board.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Canada's National Energy Board will hold hearings May 25 on an application by Alberta Energy Co., Calgary, to build and operate a 71-mile natural gas pipeline in southern Alberta. The $26.2 million (Canadian) line would run from Suffield, Alta.,...

Sable Offshore Energy Inc.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Sable Offshore Energy Inc. let a $45 million contract to Shaw & Shaw Ltd., Halifax, N.S., for anti-corrosion and concrete weight coating of subsea interfield flow lines and a main gathering line. The 12in. and 18-in. interfield flow lines will...

Apache Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Apache Corp. signed a letter of intent to supply 700 bcf of natural gas over 15 years beginning in July 2000 to An Feng Kingstream Steel Ltd. in Western Australia. Gas volumes supplied under the take-or-pay agreement will total 125 MMcfd. The gas...

Amerada Hess Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Amerada Hess Ltd. and partners tested the 20/4b-6 well in the U.K. North Sea. The well flowed 41.5 MMcfd of gas and 2,055 b/d of oil. Operator Amerada 40% said the test confirms that a discovery made by Shell Expro, the operating joint venture of...

Husky Oil Operations Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Husk Oil Operations Ltd., Calgary, will begin delineation drilling in September at its White Rose E-09 discovery on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Operator Husky Oil 43.8% said the well is near Hibernia and Terra Nova fields in the Jeanne...

BHP Prtoleum Pty. Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... BHP Petroleum Pty. Ltd. returned Griffin Venture production ship to Griffon oil field off Northwest Australia following an engine room explosion and fire on Nov. 19, 1997. BHP said a 3-month investigation revealed the blast was caused by an...

BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd. decommissioned Donan field on U.K. North Sea Block 15/20 and brought subsea equipment to shore for recycling or reuse. Donan yielded 15.3 million bbl of oil during April 1992-December 1997. It was developed with...

BHP Petroleum Inc.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... BHP Petroleum Inc. signed a letter of intent with Global Marine Inc. to build and lease a $300 million deep-water drilling rig. The contract will generate $186 million in revenues during 30 months for Global. The ultra-deepwater Glomar 456 class...

Petroleous Mexicanos.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Petroleos Mexicanos chartered Safe Lancia accommodation semisubmersible from the Cotemar/Prosafe AS alliance, Stavanger. The flotel was hired under a 2-year bareboat charter for 200 million kroner ($28 million). Prosafe said Pemex will use Safe...

Oneok Inc.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Oneok Inc. Tulsa, agreed to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s natural gas properties in Oklahoma and Kansas, excluding Hugoton field, for $135 million. The sale includes properties with net production of 30 MMcfd of gas and 400 b/d of oil and a...

Devon Energy Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Devon Energy Corp. Oklahoma City, made a tender offer for Burlington Resources Coal Seam Gas Royalty Trust. Devon's offer is $8.75/share in cash. The offer will be conducted by a newly formed subsidiary, Devon Acquisition Corp. If all of the...

Phillips Petroleum Co. (UK) Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Phillips Petroleum Co. (U.K.) Ltd. let a $25 million contract to Stolt Comex Seaway M.S. Ltd., Aberdeen, for work in the subsea development of Renee and Ruble fields in the central U.K. North Sea. The two fields will be tied back to a production...

Saudi Arabia's.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Saudi Arabia's Eastern Petrochemical Co., a joint venture of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., let contract to Chiyoda Corp. for design, procurement, construction, and pre-commissioning of a worldscale ethylene glycol...

Hungary's.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Hungary's MOL Rt. and TVK Rt., respectively, the state petroleum and petrochemicals firms, signed a letter of intent to cooperate in using their propylene output. The companies will study the feasibility of forming a 50/50 manufacturing and...

Shell Italia SpA.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Shell Italia SpA sold its 50% interest in Camattini SpA, Parma, Italy, to Altana AG, Bad Homburg, Germany, for an undisclosed sum. Camattini is a formulator of thermosetting resins--mainly epoxies and polyurethanes--for use in electrical...

Rutherford-Moran Oil Corp.'s.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Rutherford-Moran Oil Corp.'s Benchamas No. 19 new-pool wildcat in the Gulf of Thailand's Benchamas field cut 238 ft of net oil and gas pay at 9,234 ft TVD in a large graben system. The well is in the north-central portion of Block B8/32. The...

BP Exploration Operating Co.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... BP Exploration Operating Co. and its Petroleum Prospecting License 138 joint venture partners reported the step-out Moran 4x well in the southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea flowed on test at a combined rate of 4,433 b/d of 40 [degrees] gravity...

Bow Valley Energy Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Bow Valley Energy Ltd., Calgary, was awarded blocks SY59, SY69, and SY79 in the Wessex basin, Dorset County, England, near Wytch Farm, Europe's largest onshore field. Operator Bow Valley 45%, with partners Sterling Resources Ltd. 45% and Egdon...

Petrolera Argentina San Jorge's.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Petrolera Argentina San Jorge's Peruvian unit was awarded a 100% interest in a 2.5 million acre block in Peru's Maranon basin. The contract requires San Jorge to reprocess 1,500 km of existing seismic, acquire 300 km of additional 2D seismic, and...

Apache Corp.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Apache Corp. agreed to become Salt Lake City-based FX Energy Inc.'s 50% partner in a 1.5 million acre concession in the western Carpathian region of southern Poland (see map, OGJ, May 5, 1997, p. 132). Apache will fund three exploration wells and...

Elf Acquitaine.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Elf Aquitaine was awarded a deepwater block southwest of Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. Water depths on the block are 1,000-2,700 m (OGJ, May 12, 1997, p. 19).

Novagas Canada Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Novagas Canada Ltd. (NCL) agreed to purchase a 43.3% working interest in the Younger natural gas liquids extraction plant at Taylor, B.C., from Taylor Gas Liquids Fund and PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. for $30 million. NCL also will pay an...

Ethylene optimization system reaps operations and maintenance benefits.
March 9, 1998... A performance test of a new closed-loop, steady-state real time optimization (Clrto) system was completed at Mobil Chemical Co.'s Beaumont, Tex., ethylene plant in the olefins/aromatics complex in April 1994. The system is used in...

Research provides clues to hydrate formation and drilling-hazard solutions.
March 9, 1998... Hydrate formation is a growing safety concern for offshore drilling pro grams, but, despite extensive laboratory research, pragmatic information is still lacking. Formation of hydrates in drilling fluids during a shut-in is the most...

Acid-gas injection encounters diverse H2S, water phase changes.(hydrogen sulfide)
March 9, 1998... For acid-gas injection systems, pressure-composition diagrams indicate the significant phase changes that [H.sub.2]S and water mixtures can undergo when going from an amine unit to downhole in an injection well. This conclusion of a...

Nonintrusive inspection assesses wall loss in gas-plant separator.(Focus: Gas Processing)
March 9, 1998... Ultrasonic surveying at British Gas Tunisia Ltd.'s (BGTL) Hannibal plant in Tunisia accurately characterized the extent surface erosion caused by flow impingement in a separation vessel. The procedure also provided a base-line data set in...

Topsides equipment, operating flexibility key floating LNG design.(Focus: Gas Processing)
March 9, 1998... Use of a large-scale floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is an economical alternative to an onshore plant for producing from an offshore field. Mobil Technology Co., Dallas, has advanced a design for such a plant that is...

Cougar Drilling.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Cougar Drilling Houston, Tex., has named Gary Holley president and chief operating officer. Holley has been serving as vice president of marketing for Cougar and its predecessor since 1993. Holley had previously been associated with Parker...

Wood Group ESP.(Brief Article)
March 9, 1998... Wood Group ESP, Okla. City, Okla., has named Michael L. Sackash president. Sackash, previously senior vice president of operations at ESP, now has general management responsibility for all domestic and international business units. ESP...

Funding crisis afflicts Russian geological and geophysical enterprises.(Industry Overview)
March 9, 1998... Most Russian geological enterprises are small in terms of their sales, extraction volumes, and the amount of licensed reserves. Even in cases where geological enterprises are in possession of considerable hydrocarbon reserves, they are unable...

Explorers look toward better remote sensing data.
March 9, 1998... Remote sensing for oil land gas exploration seems on the brink of the availability of much more precise spectral data. The U.S. Navy has let a contract for development, launch, and early operation of a satellite that could materially aid...

More exploration possible in Kaiparowits basin.
March 9, 1998... Conoco Inc. said it discovered good indications of hydrocarbons in the Cambrian Tapeats sandstone and Muav limestone at a wildcat in southern Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The company was to decide within a few weeks...

Personals.
March 9, 1998... William E. Wade Jr. has been named president of ARCO. Ken Thompson has been appointed ARCO executive vice-president. Kevin O. Meyers has been named president and chief operating officer of ARCO Alaska Inc. Stan Horton has been elected...