The Oil and Gas Journal articles from March 2001

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from March 2001

OGJ Newsletter.
March 5, 2001... Market Movement OPEC'S gamble with markets Is OPEC playing "chicken' again with oil markets? Some of the price hawks in the organization--Venezuela seeming to be the chief hawk, a 180[degrees] turnabout from just a few years ago--are...

US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 3/5.
March 5, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 3/5 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date Latest week 2/23 average year ago [1] change average [1] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline 8,193 ...

THE CANADIAN OIL SANDS BOOM CONTINUES APACE.
March 5, 2001... Husky Energy plans to invest $5.25 billion (Can.) over 10 years in three oil sands projects in northern Alberta. One project will be at Tucker Lake, west of Cold Lake, Alta. Two others will be at Kearl Lake, on leases about 50 miles north...

INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR URGENT US FEDERAL ENERGY POLICY REFORMS.
March 5, 2001... The US urgently needs a national strategy that better balances the realities of energy production and transmission with environmental and consumer concerns, the US Energy Association said last month. USEA is the US member committee of the...

THE US SUPREME COURT UPHELD UNOCAL'S REFORMULATED GASOLINE PATENT.
March 5, 2001... The US Supreme Court's opinion Feb.20 upholding Unocal's patent for cleanerburning reformulated gasoline (RFG) calls into question the feasibility of the federal Clean Air Act goals that it's supposed to advance, said an industry official. ...

FERC APPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE GULFSTRFAM GAS PIPELINE TO FLORIDA.
March 5, 2001... FERC approved construction of the $1.7 billion Gulfstream gas pipeline from Mobile Bay, Ala., across the Gulf of Mexico to central Florida. It will be the largest pipeline construction project yet in the gulf, said the system operator....

SINOPEC PLANS TO SPEND $2.9 BILLION ON GAS E&P IN THE EAST CHINA SEA IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS.
March 5, 2001... The company will drill 20 exploration wells by yearend 2002 and conduct seismic surveys in the sea's Xihu trough. Sinopec expects its exploration activities in the East China Sea to increase gas reserves there from 54 billion cu m to 150...

US DOE LAUNCHED A RESEARCH EFFORT TO SEE IF HIGHPOWERED LASERS CAN BE ADAPTED FOR OIL AND GAS DRILLING.
March 5, 2001... The Gas Technology Institute (GTI), DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory, and several other project partners will conduct the research, which will build on a basic study completed by the gas industry in 1999. DOE said that if...

TALISMAN ENERGY IS MAKING PLANS TO DEVELOP HALLEY FIELD IN THE UK NORTH SEA.
March 5, 2001... Talisman Energy said the UK government has approved its plans to develop Halley oil field on Block 30/12 in the central North Sea. At Halley field, drilling will begin in March with two extended-reach wells from the Fulmar platform....

TOPPING GAS PROCESSING NEWS THIS WEEK.
March 5, 2001... TOPPING GAS PROCESSING NEWS THIS WEEK, Syntroleum said that preliminary engineering work has indicated that its proposed 10,000 b/d Sweetwater GTL plant in western Australia would cost $506 million. The estimate by Tessag Industrie Anlagen...

THE POLAR LIGHTS PROJECT IN RUSSIA HAS PASSED THE 75 MILLION BBL PRODUCTION MARK.
March 5, 2001... Polar Lights Co., a JV of Conoco and Russian partners Arkhangelskgeoldobycha and Rosneft, announced last month that Ardalin field has passed the 75 million bbl production milestone. The field, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug of the Timan...

Letters.
March 5, 2001... Outlook for oil in new century I enjoyed the article by Luis E. Giusti with the Center for Strategic & International Studies in OGJ, Jan. 1, 2001, p. 18. It was a scholarly and well thought out prediction for the "Outlook for oil in the...

Oman's growth spurt.
March 5, 2001... It is interesting to examine the growth of the gas industry in Oman the past 15 years. Last year, Oman, which Oil & Gas Journal listed as having had only 7 tcf of proved gas reserves in 1990, began exporting LNG. OGJ figures now show...

Discourse and miscourse.
March 5, 2001... Democracies embrace discourse as the ultimate route to political truth. Vigorous debate homes to the essence of issues as diverse as global warming and official decorum, even if debaters themselves never yield. The reward is general...

Focus on growth vs. costs key to oil company merger success.
March 5, 2001... Global merger activity is at an historical high, despite the fact that most mergers fail to deliver superior returns to shareholders. This holds true for the oil and gas industry, which also has recently experienced intense acquisition and...

JP Morgan: More oil mergers looming on horizon.
March 5, 2001... The global oil and gas industry will see another wave of major mergers within the next 2 years, as the "bigger is better" trend in consolidation continues. That prediction came from Jeremy Wilson, JP Morgan's global head of energy mergers...

Royal Dutch/Shell: Oil industry must update financial model.
March 5, 2001... Many of the oil industry's long-standing financial policies need updating to adjust to a business environment being transformed by technology, sector maturity, and the digital economy. So says Royal Dutch/Shell Group Finance Director...

Petrobras targets 2005 for oil self-sufficiency.
March 5, 2001... Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) will invest $29.4 billion by 2005 to become self-sufficient in crude oil production. That spending target breaks out as 82% in Brazil and the balance abroad. Petrobras Pres. Henri Philippe Reichstul said...

US reserve values edge higher despite fewer deals.
March 5, 2001... The value of reserves in US oil and gas asset transactions increased in the fourth quarter of 2000, in spite of a lag in the number of deals completed. The weighted average oil and gas reserve value for all US transactions that were closed...

Canadian firms report record 4Q, full year 2000 profits.
March 5, 2001... Same major Canadian oil and gas companies reporting fourth quarter and full year 2000 earnings have shown record gains. Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. (AEC), Calgary, said that increased production and strong commodity prices were major factors in...

Chevron Texaco appoint executives to head merged firm.
March 5, 2001... Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc. have appointed several senior executives to lead their newly formed company, Chevron Texaco Corp., once the merger closes (OGJ, Oct. 23, 2000, p. 28). Current Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dave...

Statoil's massive restructuring on track for 2001 completion.
March 5, 2001... The top-to-bottom restructuring that state-owned Norwegian oil and gas giant Statoil AS launched 3 years ago is on track to be completed by yearend. Statoil CEO Olaf Fjell, speaking at the Institute of Petroleum's IP Week conference late...

Industry praises Murkowski's omnibus energy bill.
March 5, 2001... US oil industry groups have praised Sens. Frank Murkowski (R-Alas.) and John Breaux (D-La.) for opening debate on a comprehensive national energy strategy. The senators last week filed an omnibus bill designed to lower US dependence on...

Many shades of green.
March 5, 2001... The warning shot fired by the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) across the Ospar Convention's bow recently for the latter's desire to further tighten regulations governing discharges of oil-in-water might, at first glance, have seemed...

Geological problem, geophysical tool: An alternate work flow.
March 5, 2001... Cross Timbers Oil Co. obtained controlling interest in Middle Ground Shoal field from Shell Oil Co. in 1998. Middle Ground Shoal field in Cook Inlet, Alaska, is a north-south trending anticline productive from multiple zones and structurally...

Russians, Chinese to develop eastern Siberia's Chayandin gas field, construct pipeline to Xinyang.
March 5, 2001... Russia and China plan to jointly develop a giant natural gas field in eastern Siberia and build a pipeline to ship the gas to northeastern China. Press reports quoting Russia's Interfax news agency said the $6 billion project will involve...

San Joaquin East Lost Hills gas flow starts.
March 5, 2001... Gas production began Feb. 6 from one well in the East Lost Hills area of California's San Joaquin basin, and the operator anticipated having as many as three other wells on line by mid-2001. Berkley Petroleum Corp., Calgary, restricted...

Bulk factor method estimates FPSO: topsides weight.
March 5, 2001... Bulk factors, used successfully for weight estimating and weight control for numerous offshore fixed installations and onshore modularization projects, can also be applied, in conjunction with a database, for estimating the topsides weight of...

Rotary closed-loop drilling improves wellbore fluid flow.
March 5, 2001... New, automated closed-loop steering devices are siginificandy reducing deviations from ideal wellpath in horizontal wells. These devices immediately counteract deviations from the planned path through a downhole, closed-loop control of the...

Industry organization questions need for ULS fuels.
March 5, 2001... Although ultra-low sulfur (ULS) fuels used with certain vehicle technologies will reduce vehicle [CO.sub.2] emissions, there are a number of counterbalancing effects in terms of refining investment costs and plant [CO.sub.2] emissions. ...

Composition of recycle oil helps determine coke yield.
March 5, 2001... Knowing the composition of the recycle oil charged to the coker fractionator helps determine coke yield and thus coking economics. The composition of recycle oil is not easy to determine, however, because it does not exist separately from...

Russian Far East natural gas searches for a home.
March 5, 2001... Development of the Russian Far East's enormous energy potential has long been a topic of vast (and often) under-informed speculation. Everything in the scale of Russian Far East developments is big-reserves, distances, climates, problems,...

Iran expands Middle East influence into Caspian Sea.
March 5, 2001... Iran's strategic position between the Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, and the Indian subcontinent continues to play a pivotal role in securing oil and natural gas export outlets for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to outside markets. As synergies...

Yemen's oil production climbing, potential great.
March 5, 2001... Yemen, still one of the smallest countries in the Middle East in terms of reserves, has made remarkable progress the past 15 years. Its crude oil and condensate production has grown to 440,000 b/d in 2000 from a minimal figure in 1986, but...

Drilling tower offers versatility.
March 5, 2001... The M.P.T. (multipurpose tower) drilling tower can be used for several oil field jobs. Drilling operations will be its main use, but by adjusting the tower with tensioners or other applications, it is suited for coiled tubing operations,...

New process designed for ethylene plant use.
March 5, 2001... A new process recovers high-purity 1, 3-butadiene from crude [C.sub.4] streams in ethylene plants. The process selectively hydrogenates the [C.sub.4] acetylenes and then recovers 1, 3-butadiene from the butanes and butene-susing extractive...

Analyzers measure [CO.sub.2] to trace ppm levels.
March 5, 2001... Xentra 4100 and 4200 analyzers promise accurately to measure [CO.sub.2] down to a few parts per million to provide, for example, advance warning allowing maintenance before higher levels can cause problems in cryogenic plants and facilities...

Integrated survey vehicle works in deep water.
March 5, 2001... The new HUGIN 3000 deepwater autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system is capable of reaching ultradeep-water depths of 3,000 m with an integrated survey payload. It provides a high speed and cost effective solution to the study of the...

Foxboro Co.
March 5, 2001... Foxboro, Mass., has appointed Michael Gissing vice-president and general manager for global SCADA. Gissing was previously president of Foxboro Canada. Foxboro Co. is a global supplier of instruments, systems, software, and services for...

Harbison-Fischer Manufacturing Co.
March 5, 2001... Crowley, Tex., has promoted Benny J. Williams to vice-president of engineering, and Mark W. Mahoney to senior sales application engineer. Both have been with Harbison-Fischer for over 17 years. Williams has a mechanical engineering degree...

UWG Group.
March 5, 2001... Norwich, UK, has appointed John Hogan chairman. In his new role, Hogan will provide strategic direction as the company prepares itself for expansion and a broader role in the international market. Hogan was formerly chief operating officer...

Conbraco Industries.
March 5, 2001... Matthews, NC, has announced the opening of a European operations center in Manchester, England, to better serve its valve and actuator customers. The new facility, Conbraco's first outside North America, will serve the European markets, as...

Industrial Rubber Inc. Oil Tool Div.
March 5, 2001... Oklahoma City, has promoted Paul A. Chaney to president. Chaney has been with IRI Oil Tool since 1967, and most recently served as executive vice-president. IRI Oil Tool is an international manufacturer of primary cementing equipment for...

Nalco / Exxon Energy Chemicals LP.
March 5, 2001... Sugar Land, Tex., has named Damian J. Luna worldwide general manager for its newly formed refinery and fuels management group. Luna, who has been with Nalco/Exxon since 1986, will have responsibility for sales, marketing, and research efforts...

Netzsch Inc.
March 5, 2001... Exton, Pa., has appointed Robert E. Fisher regional sales manager for Netzsch Oilfield Products. Fisher has over 30 years of experience in the oil field and industrial pump markets. Fisher has degrees in mathematics and English from the...

Weidmuller Inc.
March 5, 2001... Richmond, Va., has named Frederick M. Noblett Jr. president. Noblett holds a BS in industrial distribution from Clarkson University and has over 20 years of experience in the industry. Most recently, he was Gulf Coast district manager for...

OGJ CRACK SPREAD.
March 5, 2001... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 2-23-01 [*] 2-25-00 [*] Change % $/bbl change SPOT PRICES Product value 32.20 34.44 -2.24 -6.5 ...

API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS.
March 5, 2001... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total Comp. [2] ...

API REFINERY REPORT--FEBRUARY 23, 2001.
March 5, 2001... API REFINERY REPORT--FEBRUARY 23, 2001 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable % District...

API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS.
March 5, 2001... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 Total U.S. 2-23 2-16 [1] 2-23 2-16 [1] 2-23 ...

OGJ GASOLINE PRICES.
March 5, 2001... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES Price Pump Pump ex tax price [*] price 2-21-01 2-21-01 2-23-00 ...

REFINED PRODUCT PRICES.
March 5, 2001... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES 2-16-01 ([cts.]/gal) Spot market product prices Motor gasoline (Conventional-regular) New York Harbor ...

BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT.
March 5, 2001... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 2-23-01 2-25-00 Alabama 6 1 Alaska 11 5 Arkansas 1 0 California 28 22 ...

SMITH RIG COUNT.
March 5, 2001... SMITH RIG COUNT 2-23-01 2-25-00 Proposed depth Rig % Rig % (ft) count footage [*] count footage [*] 0-2,500 60 1.6 ...

OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT.
March 5, 2001... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT 2-23-01 [1] 2-25-00 [2] (1,000 b/d) (Crude oil and lease Condensate) Alabama 28 30 Alaska ...

U.S. CRUDE PRICES.
March 5, 2001... U.S. CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [*] 2-23-01 Alaska-North Slope 27[degrees] 18.31 Southern Louisiana Light 27.25 California-Kern River 13[degrees] 21.00 Lost Hills...

WORLD CRUDE PRICES.
March 5, 2001... WORLD CRUDE PRICES ($/bbl) [1] 2-16-01 United Kingdom-Brent 38[degrees] 26.61 Russia-Urals 32[degrees] 24.89 Saudi light 34[degrees] 25.68 Dobai...

AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE.
March 5, 2001... AGA NATURAL GAS STORAGE [*] 2-16-01 2-9-01 Change bcf Producing region 257 267 -10 Consuming region east 537 592 -55 Consuming region west...

PACE REFINING MARGINS.
March 5, 2001... PACE REFINING MARGINS Dec. Jan. Feb. Feb. % 2000 2001 2001 2000 Change change $/bbl 2001 vs...

U.S. NATURAL GAS BALANCE DEMAND/SUPPLY SCOREBOARD.
March 5, 2001... U.S. NATURAL GAS BALANCE DEMAND/SUPPLY SCOREBOARD Nov. Total YTD Nov. Oct. Nov. change YTD change 2000 2000 1999...

U.S. HEATING DEGREE DAYS.
March 5, 2001... U.S. HEATING DEGREE DAYS [1] 2000 % change Total degree days Dec. Dec. from July 1 through Dec. 31 ...

WORLDWIDE NGL PRODUCTION.
March 5, 2001... WORLDWIDE NGL PRODUCTION 11 month Chg. vs. average previous Nov. Oct. Production year...

OXYGENATES.
March 5, 2001... OXYGENATES Dec. Nov. YTD YTD 2000 2000 Change 2000 1999 Change 1,000 bbl Fuel ethanol Production 3,505 3,281 224 38,886 35,041...

Imperial.
March 5, 2001... Meanwhile, Imperial said last month that it plans a $1 billion (Can.) expansion of its oil sands operations at Cold Lake, Alta. It filed a preliminary disclosure document with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Environment....

Pak Arab Refinery Co.
March 5, 2001... In other pipeline happenings, Pak Arab Refinery Co. (Parco) awarded China Petroleum Engineering & Construction a letter of intent to build a 26-in., 817-km products line from Parco's refinery at Mehmood Kot in Punjab Province to Karachi's Port...

Statoil.
March 5, 2001... Elsewhere on the exploration front, Statoil hired the Noble George Sauvageau rig from Dutch company NAM to drill two wells on the Stine prospect 7 km east of the operator's Siri field in the Danish North Sea. The rig is working off Holland for...

Premier Oil Natuna Sea.
March 5, 2001... Premier Oil Natuna Sea said it has completed appraisal drilling on its Ujung Pangkah field in East Java, Indonesia, confirming reserves on the Pangkah Block structure in excess of 450 bcf of rich gas. Premier says there is a possibility of...

Enterprise Oil.
March 5, 2001... Enterprise Oil is "not closing any doors" in deciding how it might develop its North Sea Howe prospect. Appraisal drilling has indicated a reservoir holding up to 55 million bbl of oil. Exploration manager Karen Leadbitter said preliminary...

Australian operators.
March 5, 2001... Australian operators have indicated they will drill 125 exploration wells this year, a 31% increase from the 95 drilled in 2000. The survey by the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association indicated 80 of those wells would be...

Odfjell Drilling.
March 5, 2001... In other drilling sector action, Odfjell Drilling has signed a letter of intent to acquire Smedvig's West Delta semisubmersible drilling rig for $110 million. The agreement is subject to board approval, the buyer's inspection of the rig, and...

Enterprise Energy Ireland.
March 5, 2001... In other development action, Enterprise Oil said the Irish government had approved its [pound]500 million (Irish) subsea development of Corrib gas field off southern Ireland. Enterprise will develop the field, in more than 1,100 ft of water,...

Mikkel gas.
March 5, 2001... Statoil's 2 billion kroner development of its Mikkel gas condensate field in the Norwegian Sea involves subsea facilities and well flow transfer via Midgard field to the operator's Asgard B platform. The state-owned company's plan for...

Reliance Industries.
March 5, 2001... In other gas processing news, three major companies have agreed to begin a $10 million feasibility study of an LNG project in southern Iran. Reliance Industries, National Iranian Oil, and BP will study a proposed two-train, 8 million tonne/year...

Shell Iran.
March 5, 2001... In other production work, Shell Iran said it has begun a 12-well drilling program to redevelop the shallow-water Soroosh and Nowrooz oil fields off Iran's Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf. Shell employed the Maersk Viking rig to spud...

Market Movement.
March 12, 2001... Another OPEC cut possible this week Will OPEC proceed with another production cut at its ministerial meeting in Vienna this week? And will it be justified? There are some signs that a bear market may be getting entrenched, contends...

NL Bulletin.
March 12, 2001... Australian Timor Sea LNG development is being accelerated to meet urgent demand for gas in southern California and Mexico's Baja California peninsula. Phillips Petroleum Co. and El Paso Corp. have signed a letter of intent to develop a...

US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 3/12.
March 12, 2001... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 3/12 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date YTD avg. Latest week 3/2 average year ago [1] change average [1] year ago [1] Demand (1.000 b/d) Motor gasoline...

THE POLYPROPYLENE INDUSTRY.
March 12, 2001... CONSOLIDATIONS IN THE POLYOLEFINS INDUSTRY ARE TRANSFORMING THE POLYPROPYLENE INDUSTRY Recent consolidations and restructuring among producers, coupled with new and improved metallocene and single-site catalysts, have dramatically changed...

NATURAL GAS CONTINUES TO DRIVE A SHIFT IN GLOBAL ENERGY DEMAND.
March 12, 2001... Driven by power generation, gas is the key beneficiary of a shift in global energy demand away from oil and coal, says Bernard de Combret, president of TotalFinaElf's gas and power trading unit. But he said oil should not be discounted as a...

US ENERGY GROUPS ARE URGING EPA TO REVAMP ITS DIESEL SULFUR RULE.
March 12, 2001... A score of associations has urged US EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman to reconsider her agency's rule slashing sulfur in diesel fuel. The rule would require a 97% cut in sulfur levels by June 2006 (see Editorial, p. 19). In a...

ALASKA'S ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.
March 12, 2001... A CONGRESSIONAL COALITION FILED LEGISLATION TO BLOCK DRILLING ON THE COASTAL PLAIN OF ALASKA'S ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Sen. Frank Murkowsk (R-Alas.) and others earlier proposed legislation that would permit leasing of the region...

CHINA NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS CONTINUE TO SIZZLE.
March 12, 2001... Operator BP said it will proceed with the $1.3 billion Nam Con Son gas development project off Viet Nam. BP said the planned development, made up of Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields on Block 6/1 off Viet Nam, is the country's largest foreign...

Petronas Carigali and Esso Production Malaysia.
March 12, 2001... Meanwhile, Petronas has announced completion of the first phase of development of Angsi field off Malaysia in the South China Sea. First gas from Angsi is expected in first quarter 2002. The development is being undertaken by a JV of Petronas...

Norsk Hydro.
March 12, 2001... In other development action, Norsk Hydro let a $56 million contract to Kvaerner to build the generator module and living quarters for the Grane platform. This latest work for the Norwegian North Sea development, the largest proven but...