The Oil and Gas Journal articles from March 1999

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from March 1999

Newsletter.
March 29, 1999... Last week's agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing nations to cut crude oil output (see story, p. 18), in conjunction with fundamental corrections already under way, has set the stage for a turnaround in world oil markets. That's...

U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD3/29.
March 29, 1999... U.S. INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 3/29 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date YTD avg. Latest week 3/19 average year ago [*] change average [*] year ago [*] Demand (1,000 b/d) ...

LETTERS.
March 29, 1999... Terrorism and oil prices I appreciate the opportunity to offer my comments on Robert Stolzle's insightful letter (OGJ, Mar. 8, 1999, p. 8). I agree with the author's basic premise that the present policy of the U.S. government is to...

Something to sleep on.
March 29, 1999... Shift work in 24-hr operations such as process plants and hospitals can be wearisome. Studies show the sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disruption experienced during shift work can affect one's safety, health, performance, and...

Oil prices and layoffs.
March 29, 1999... What now for the oil and gas industry's professional dimension? It is, of course, too soon to declare $10/bbl oil yesterday's news. The possibility nevertheless looms that the recent layoff spree by oil companies will appear in...

Grappling with downturn tops '99 energy agenda of U.S. Congress.
March 29, 1999... The U.S. oil industry's depression has added a rare sense of urgency to energy legislation in the U.S. Congress this year. Although oil prices fell most of last year, legislators from oil states accomplished almost nothing in response....

Production cuts affirmed at OPEC meeting.
March 29, 1999... The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed to cut total oil production by 1.7 million b/d beginning Apr. 1 and continuing for 1 year. Non-OPEC producers followed the OPEC agreement with a pledge by the governments of Mexico,...

Venezuela's path.
March 29, 1999... The government of Hugo Chavez continues to grapple with a very difficult problem: restructuring Petroleos de Venezuela SA at a time when world oil prices are under pressure. Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister All Rodriguez raised...

Technology key to enduring depressed crude oil prices.
March 29, 1999... Barring unforeseen events, the petroleum industry should expect no early relief from depressed crude oil prices and tough petroleum industry economics. As a result, many development projects will remain in jeopardy of being postponed or...

Downturn hobbling upstream technology R&D.
March 29, 1999... Declining capital availability, the lack of technology sponsorship, and the growing threat of depletion are among the top concerns over the state of drilling and production technology worldwide. Those issues were at the forefront of the...

Economic problems threaten Sakhalin E&D.
March 29, 1999... The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), Swindon, U.K., says economic problems in Russia's far east threaten major oil and gas projects off Sakhalin Island. ESRC-sponsored research by Michael Bradshaw of the U.K.'s University of...

Aussie LNG projects squabble over marketing.
March 29, 1999... Mobil Oil Australia Ltd. has dashed hopes of a united marketing effort for Australian liquefied natural gas by deriding a recent proposal put forward by Woodside Petroleum Pty. Ltd. and Shell Australia Ltd. and endorsed by Chevron Asiatic...

Conference debates potential of Ivory Coast.
March 29, 1999... While the oil industry is in bad shape worldwide because of low oil prices, West Africa is still a bright star on the industry's horizon. This is the view Steve Thornton, director of international operations planning, Ocean Energy Inc.,...

Vastar, Elf report deepwater gulf finds.
March 29, 1999... Operators have made two significant hydrocarbon finds in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Vastar Resources Inc., Houston, and Elf Aquitaine's U.S. unit Elf Exploration Inc. last week disclosed the separate strikes, both in the gulf's...

Enbridge, Loop plan Gulf of Mexico crude oil pipeline.
March 29, 1999... Enbridge Inc., Calgary, and LOOP LLC, New Orleans, have proposed a new crude oil pipeline that will carry 600,000 b/d of crude oil from the eastern Gulf Coast to refineries on the western Gulf Coast (see map, above). The companies intend...

Upper Midwest gas pipeline project slated.
March 29, 1999... Three Midwestern energy companies--Wicor, CMS Energy Corp., and Northern States Power Co. unit Viking Gas Transmission Co.--have signed an agreement to build an interstate natural gas pipeline to serve markets in northern Illinois and...

NPRA: Refiners eye new ways to manage costs.
March 29, 1999... U.S. refiners continue to face hard times. Many are seeking new ways to manage costs in a period of depressed margins. At the same time, most are considering investments to prepare for low-sulfur fuel requirements in the future. These...

Qatar General Petroleum Corp.
March 29, 1999... Qatar General Petroleum Corp. (QGPC) plans to supply natural gas to the U.A.E. and Oman under a deal forged by the United Arab Emirates Offset Group (UOG). UOG is a government unit established in Abu Dhabi to promote industrial ventures....

Exxon Co. USA.
March 29, 1999... Exxon Co. USA was unable to successfully restart the catalytic cracking unit at its Benicia, Calif., refinery following recent turnaround maintenance. The unit, which was shut down Mar. 18, is expected to be down for a few more weeks. In the...

Petroleos Mexicanos.
March 29, 1999... Petroleos Mexicanos unit Pemex Refinacion Co. let contract to Foster Wheeler Corp., Clinton, N.J., for project management services related to the revamp of its Antonio M. Amor refinery at Salamanca, Guanajuato state, Mexico. Pemex has yet to...

Irving Oil Ltd.
March 29, 1999... Irving Oil Ltd., Saint John, NB., will call for bidders in April for the next phase of a $750 million (Canadian) revamp of its Saint John refinery. Irving expects to award construction contracts valued at about $300 million in the next 9...

Enron Corp.'s.
March 29, 1999... Enron Corp.'s Canadian unit Enron Capital & Trade Resources Canada Corp. filed documents in a Calgary court seeking to have Blue Range Resource Corp., Calgary, put into bankruptcy. Blue Range is under court protection from creditors while its...

Fracmaster Ltd.
March 29, 1999... Fracmaster Ltd., Calgary, filed for court protection in Calgary after being unable to service a $7.5 million (Canadian) debt. The firm, with operations in Canada, the U.S., and the former Soviet Union, said it is insolvent and has more than...

Conoca Inc.
March 29, 1999... Conoca Inc. unit Conoco Venezuela made an oil discovery on the Gulf of Paria West block, 160 miles east of Puerto La Cruz, off Venezuela. Corocoro 1X, drilled to a depth of 12,100 ft in 8 ft of water, encountered several hydro-carbon-bearing...

Plains All American Pipeline LP.
March 29, 1999... Plains All American Pipeline LP, Houston, plans to acquire Scurlock Permian LLC and certain other pipeline assets from Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC for about $138 million in cash. The deal, pending regulatory review and approval, is...

Pakistan's Cabinet Committee on Investment.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Pakistan's Cabinet Committee on Investment approved a proposal to award the White Oil pipeline project to Pak Arab Refinery Co. Ltd. (Parco) for laying an 800-km pipeline from Karachi to Mehmood Kot near Multan, Punjab province. The contract...

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., a unit of El Paso Energy Corp. filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its Eastern Express Project 2000. The project will provide firm transportation service beginning November 2000...

TransMontaigne Inc.(to build barge dock facility with Colonial Pipeline Co.)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... TransMontaigne Inc., Denver, and Colonial Pipeline Co., Atlanta, will build a barge dock facility on the Mississippi River, 29 miles north of Baton Rouge. TransMontaigne will build, own, and operate the marine loading and unloading facility....

Methanex Corp.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Methanex Corp., Vancouver, B.C., will close its 260,000 metric ton/year methanol plant at Medicine Hat, Alta. Its remaining plant at Medicine Hat produces 570,000 tons/year for markets in Canada and U.S. West Coast and Rocky Mountain states....

Shell Chemicals Canada Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Shell Chemicals Canada Ltd. and Dow Chemical Canada Inc. signed a letter of intent for a long-term styrene monomer supply contract. Under the proposed deal, Shell would supply a significant proportion of styrene output from its Scotford,...

Indian Petrochemicals Corp.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Indian Petrochemicals Corp. will build a $350 million polypropylene plant at Qatar's Mesaieed industrial area. Financing will be provided by Persian Gulf consortium M.B. International. Bechtel will serve as technical contractor for the...

Occidental of Bangladesh Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Occidental of Bangladesh Ltd. started up natural gas production from Jalalabad field on Block 13 in Bangladesh's Sylhet province. Operator Occidental and Unocal Bangladesh Ltd. are developing Jalalabad under a production-sharing agreement...

Petrobras Bolivia SA.
March 29, 1999... Petrobras Bolivia SA announced test results for an appraisal well drilled on the San Alberto block in Gran Chaco province in southern Bolivia. SAL X-9 reached a depth of 4,565 m and cut more than 80 m of gross natural gas pay in the...

India's state-owned.(Oil and Natural Gas Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... India's state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. is losing an estimated $200,000/day due to the blowout of well B-121-D in Bombay High field off India's west coast that caught fire Mar. 12 (OGJ, Mar. 22, 1999, p. 46). The fire has since spread to...

A group of companies.(Total, Sonatrach, and Repsol in Algeria)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... A group of companies brought on stream Tin Fouye Tabankort natural gas field in southeastern Algeria. The field is jointly operated by Total 35%, state firm Sonatrach 35%, and Repsol 30% under a 20-year production-sharing agreement signed in...

Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd.(announces Sumatra well results, with Talisman Ltd. and Pertamina)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd., Calgary; Talisman (Corridor) Ltd., Calgary; and Indonesia's Pertamina announced the results of the Suban 3 delineation well in the Corridor production-sharing contract area in south Sumatra. Suban 3 is a 2.2-km...

U.S. Federal Trade Commission.(conditions for CMS Energy to acquire Duke Energy Corp. assets)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... U.S. Federal Trade Commission agreed to allow CMS Energy Inc., Dearborn, Mich., to acquire Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., Trunkline Gas Co., and other assets from units of Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, N.C., if CMS makes space available to...

Chevron Corp.(cost cutting at Chevron Chemical and Chevron Pipe Line)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Chevron Corp. units Chevron Chemical Co. LLC and Chevron Pipe Line Co. recently announced plans to reduce operating costs. Chevron Chemical plans to cut 300 jobs by mid-2000 and move its headquarters to Houston by third quarter 1999. Chevron...

El Paso Energy Corp.(El Paso Field Services Co. acquires EnCap Investments)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... El Paso Energy Corp. unit El Paso Field Services Co. acquired EnCap Investments LC for $52 million in cash and stock. EnCap serves as manager of three individual U.S. institutional oil and gas investment funds and is also manager of Energy...

Petrofina SA.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Petrofina SA signed an agreement with Shell Nederland BV to acquire certain service stations in the Netherlands. The assets portfolio represents just over 1% of the Dutch market. At the same time, Norske Shell AS will acquire Fina Europe AS's...

Sharpe Resources Corp.
March 29, 1999... Sharpe Resources Corp. will acquire Aviva Petroleum Inc. unit Aviva America Inc., Dallas, in a stock swap transaction. Aviva shareholders will receive one new Sharpe share for every six Aviva shares. Sharpe will have about 39 million shares...

TransAlta New Zealand Ltd.(acquires geothermal steam field and generating plant in New Zealand)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... TransAlta New Zealand Ltd., a unit of TransAlta Corp., Calgary, will acquire the Rotokawa geothermal steam field and generating plant in northern New Zealand from Utilicorp United Inc. unit United Networks Ltd. for $52.5 million (New...

Gas Research Institute.
March 29, 1999... Gas Research Institute, Chicago, will evaluate worldwide nonconventional natural gas resources in a new $1.1 million study and is seeking producer investment in a Global Emerging Resource Consortium, the group being formed to undertake the...

American Petroleum Institute.
March 29, 1999... American Petroleum Institute is leading an industry consortium that will test the toxicity of 350 chemical substances that oil firms make or import. Data from the tests, performed under a voluntary program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental...

Hungarian oil and gas firm.(MOL Rt.)(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL Rt. acquired BP Gas Magyarorszag Kft., the liquefied petroleum gas trading unit of BP Amoco plc. The value of the sale was not disclosed. MOL said the purchase brought it an additional 5% share of Hungary's bulk...

Web business booms.
March 29, 1999... U.K. entrepreneur Charles Cohen has launched a currency, called Beenz, that he hopes to make valid for trading on the worldwide web. Cohen's intention is to unify shopping online and, of course, to make a few bucks in the process. His...

EIA: U.S. gasoline prices rebounding.(Brief Article)
March 29, 1999... The average retail price for regular gasoline in the U.S. has topped $1/gal for the first time in more than 4 months, said U.S. Energy Information Administration. As of Mar. 22, the cash self-serve price of regular gasoline was...

Hydropulses increase drilling penetration rates.
March 29, 1999... Jack Kolle is president and cofounder of Tempress Technologies Inc. He received a PhD in geophysics from the University of Washington in 1980 and holds a BA in physics from the University of California at San Diego. THE AUTHORS ...

Procedure optimizes lift gas allocation.
March 29, 1999... THE AUTHORS Orestes Mayo is a professor on the chemical engineering faculty of the Institute Superior Politecnico "Jose A. Echeverria," Havana, Cuba. He specializes in chemical process analysis, process control, and engineering...

Solar-heating system studied for heavy-oil pipelines.
March 29, 1999... Modeling of a solar-powered, heat-tracing system for pipelines suggests it can be successful as a nonintrusive pour point depressant or drag-reducer, according to Solar Systems Pty. Ltd., Hawthorn, Vict., Australia. The company developed...

Fluid dynamics visualization solves LNG plant recirculation problem.
March 29, 1999... THE AUTHOR Jon Berkoe is a principal engineer with Bechtel Technology & Consulting, San Francisco, where he manages a computational fluid dynamics research and consulting group. In addition to per farming technical analyses, ho is re...

Ethylene-capacity growth slowed in 1998.(Industry Overview)
March 29, 1999... Worldwide ethylene-capacity growth decreased sharply this year. Ethylene capacity increased by about 2.11 million metric tons/year (mty), or 2.5%, to 90.9 million mty. Not including 1996, this figure is the slowest annual growth in...

New Thailand ethylene p1ant commission.
March 29, 1999... Thailand's third world-scale olefins complex came on-stream in February, making the country a dominant player in the Southeast Asian petrochemical industry while aggravating the oversupply situation, especially in Thailand. The new...

INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF ETHYLENE FROM STEAM CRACKERS--1999.
March 29, 1999... INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF ETHYLENE FROM STEAM CRACKERS--1999 Capacities as of January 1, 1999 Total nameplate ...

Offshore project capabilities.
March 29, 1999... What does it take to put an offshore project together? One way is demonstrated in a recently released capabilities brochure, which describes this company's field services. The brochure is free on request. The company, an integrated...

New torque unit.
March 29, 1999... The new Series 3000 torque unit, a 7 5/8 in. version, is capable of delivering torques of more than 29,500 lb/ft without marking or deforming high torque tubulars. Equipped with Chromemaster dies in the tong and backup grips, the Series 3000...

Marine sewage treatment system for small vessels.
March 29, 1999... The new Omnipure 6MS Marine Sewage Treatment System is a compact and lightweight unit designed specifically to address treatment requirements and space limitations of smaller offshore platforms, tugboats, and other workboats that have crews...

Emergency alerting system for petrochemical facilities.
March 29, 1999... Waves Pas is a secure digital wireless detection and alerting system that provides simultaneous voice and visual emergency instructions (live or recorded) for immediate response to threats to lives and property. Whether terrorism, fires,...

Pipeline analysis software.
March 29, 1999... Pipeline Studio 1.0 is a Windows based graphical environment for steady state and transient hydraulic analysis of liquid and gas pipeline networks. The company says its program's simulators conform closely with the work flow of...

Mustang Engineers and Constructors.
March 29, 1999... Mustang Engineers and Constructors, Houston, Tex., has named Robert N. Arzonetti manager of technology--polymers and chemicals for its Process Plants business unit. Arzonetti has more than 38 years experience in polymer and chemical...

Baker & O'Brien, Inc.
March 29, 1999... Baker & O'Brien, Inc. has announced the opening of a Houston office to add to the services already offered by its Dallas and Los Angeles locations. The former staff of Vector Associates has joined Baker & OBrien, Inc. in Houston and Raymond...

Ryder Scott Co. Petroleum Engineers.
March 29, 1999... Ryder Scott Co. Petroleum Engineers has named Keith Brown manager of their Calgary office. He was also named a vice president. Previously, Brown was manager of the Oil & Gas Evaluations Group at Royal Bank of Canada in Calgary. ...

Twachtman Snyder & Byrd, Inc.
March 29, 1999... Twachtman Snyder & Byrd, Inc., Houston, Tex., has named Tom B. Slocum manager of the downhole services group. Slocum, formerly with Halliburton Energy Services, has 28 years of oil and gas industry expertise.

Production Management Industries, Inc. (PMI).
March 29, 1999... Production Management Industries, Inc. (PMI), Harvey, La., has named Ronnie M. Broussard vice president of business development and will work out of the Lafayette, La. office. Broussard joins PMI's team to develop their supplemental labor...

The Expro Group.
March 29, 1999... The Expro Group, Aberdeen, Scotland, has named Tudor Gafton sales manager responsible for developing business initiatives in Kazakhstan and the Caspian Basin. Gafton has over 12 years extensive experience in the upstream oil industry based in...

PennWell.
March 29, 1999... PennWell, a diversified media and information company and publisher of Oil & Gas Journal, has named several industry veterans to head the leadership team of its newly created PennPoint division. PennPoint was awarded the Dwights database...

Weatherford International, Inc.
March 29, 1999... Weatherford International, Inc., Houston, Tex., has named Bruce F. Longaker, Jr. chief financial officer and senior vice president. Most recently, Longaker was vice president, finance and corporate controller for Schlumberger's Camco...

Stolt Comex Seaway S.A.
March 29, 1999... Stolt Comex Seaway S.A., Aberdeen, Scotland, had signed a letter of intent with J. Ray McDermott pursuant to which Stolt Comex Seaway will acquire the Gulf of Mexico Diving Div. of J. Ray McDermott. The acquisition includes all of the...

Conam Inspection Inc.
March 29, 1999... Conam Inspection Inc., Glendale Heights, Ill., and Det Norske Veritas, Houston, Tex., have announced their commitment to strategically team to offer a broad range of services to their petrochemical, power generation and process industry...

A2D Technologies, Inc.
March 29, 1999... A2D Technologies, Inc., Houston, Tex., has merged with Interpretive Imaging L.L.C., an E & P software and image database company based in Denver. The newly combined company will be known as A2D Technologies, and will be headquartered in...

Anomaly shifts indicate rapid surface seep rates.
March 29, 1999... THE AUTHOR Steven A Tedesco is owner of Atoka Geochemical Services Corp. He worked for Mobil Oil Corp., Shell Oil Co., and several independent oil and mining companies and has more than 20 years of experience with surface geo-chemistry...

Colombia.
March 29, 1999... A group led by Mohave Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, spudded the Caporal I wildcat on the 233,000 acre Tapir Association Contract in the eastern Lianos basin on Mar. 13, reports Solana Petroleum Corp., Calgary, a participant. The wildcat,...

Indonesia.
March 29, 1999... Two Canadian companies are preparing to start up operations in the Tarakan basin, Northeast Kalimantan. Equatorial Energy Inc., Calgary, and Pertamina plan to start $13.5 million of work in May in Sembakung oil field. The work consists of...

Mazambique.
March 29, 1999... DeGolyer and MacNaughton is conducting a reserve evaluation based on data from five successful wells that Arco-Sasol-Zarara Oil & Gas Ltd. drilled in 1998 in Temane gas field. A development decision could come in 1999, said Zarara,...

Portugal.
March 29, 1999... A group led by Mohave Oil & Gas Corp., Houston, plans to thoroughly evaluate several zones after a Lusitanian basin wildcat reaches total depth (see map, OGJ, Dec. 8, 1997, p. 67). Aljubarrota 2 drillstem tested gas at 2,415-2,513 m in a...

Gulf of Mexico.
March 29, 1999... A unit of KeySpan Energy Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., agreed to buy 45% of Houston Exploration Corp.'s working interest in Houston's 55 undeveloped leases. KeySpan will provide up to $100 million/year for 3 years for the leases, exploratory...

California.
March 29, 1999... Black Sea Energy Ltd., Calgary, completed initial testing of its Almond Crest 54-20 wildcat in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California. The well, drilled to TD 3,750 ft, cut 80 ft of heavy oil pay in a sandstone reservoir at 1,200 ft...

Kentucky.
March 29, 1999... Four oil companies and the U.S. Department of Energy have funded a comprehensive geologic study of Knox and pre-Knox formations in the Rome trough of eastern Kentucky. Data developed will remain confidential to the funding entities for 2...

PERSONALS.
March 29, 1999... Roberto Mandini has been named president of Petr6leos de Venezuela, SA (Pdvsa), Venezuela. John Richels has been named CEO of Northstar Energy Corp., a Canadian subsidiary of Devon Energy Corp. Don Garner has been appointed president and...

DEATHS.
March 29, 1999... Donald Wilson Morris, 83, owner of Morris Oil & Gas Co., died Feb. 13 in Grantsville, W. Va. John J. Cloeter III, 67, international petroleum geologist, died Feb. 14 in Kerrville, Tex. John J. Rupnik, 88, independent consultant, died...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.
March 29, 1999... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 3-19-99 [*] 3-20-98 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 17.35 17.55 -0.20...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.
March 29, 1999... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 3-19 3-12 [*] 3-19 3.12 [*] 1999 1999 ...

API CRUDE PRODUCT STOCKS.
March 29, 1999... API CRUDE PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total Comp. [+] Naphtha...

API REFINERY REPORT--MARCH 19, 1999.
March 29, 1999... API REFINERY REPORT--MARCH 19, 1999 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to to crude Operable % District ...