The Oil and Gas Journal articles from May 2000

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from May 2000

OPEC walking price tightrope?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... OPEC needs to take special care not to panic over the recent $9/bbl price drop. Reneging on pledged production increases in response to a momentary case of the jitters could mean market-wrecking oil prices late in the year. So says London...

IPAA: US oil output lagging.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Echoing that last theme is the latest forecast from IPAA's supply-demand committee. IPAA says the Lower 48 states 'continue to be extremely slow to respond to the rebound in the crude oil prices" meaning that total US crude production in...

US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 5/1.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD -- 5/1 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. % Year-to-date Latest week 4/21 average year ago [1] change average [1] Demand (1,000 b/d) Motor gasoline 8,391...

BTU.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... BTU convergence alliances are increasingly taking on the visage of Wall Steet commodities traders. Power giant Entergy and privately held integrated Koch last week unveiled a JV to deliver, market, and trade power, natural gas, and other...

Siemens Westinghouse.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... ALTERNATE FUELS development can still incorporate some conventional fossil fuels. US DOE says a new type of natural gas-fed fuel cell power plant has been constructed and will be tested soon. Siemens Westinghouse's 220-kw power system...

Suncor.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... SOME NONCONVENTIONAL fossil fuels are having a rough time of it. Suncor says costs for its $2 billion (Can.) Millennium oilsands expansion program in northern Alberta have increased by $ 150 million and could increase a further 5-15%. The...

Chechnya's oil industry.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... RUSSIA wants to move ahead with plans to let Rosneft, the country's last fully state-owned oil company, take control of Chechnya's oil industry, says a source in the Russian Fuel and Energy Ministry. Moscow earlier said it wants to let...

S.C. Mathur.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... INDIA has set up a committee to formulate a comprehensive LNG policy encompassing all aspects of LNG, including supply, distribution, shipping, and imports. Last December, Petronet inked LNG marketing agreements with GAIL, IOC, and Bharat...

Monitor gasoline.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... FRANCE plans to monitor gasoline prices through weekly inspections to make certain that marketers reflect decreases in oil prices, the economy ministry said. The country, known as having perhaps one of the most arduous tax systems for gasoline,...

BP AMOCO.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... BP AMOCO says it has found enough gas in its Shah Deniz discovery in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan to justify a pipeline to Turkey. BP Amoco and partners late last month unveiled final test results from its SDX-2 appraisal well. Drilled to...

Anschutz Overseas Corp.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... IN OTHER ACTION on the exploration front, Anschutz Overseas Corp. inked a 3-year accord to explore for oil and gas in Bulgaria. The focus will be on selected areas of the Balkan Mountains and near the towns Pleven, Lovech`, and Montana....

TransCanada PipeLines.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... TransCanada PipeLines' Dutch unit has a nice gasser with its K 12-13 wildcat in the Dutch North Sea. The well flowed 30 MMcfd on test; reserves are pegged at 150-375 bcf, and production start-up is slated for early 2002. Interests are operator...

Norsk Hydro.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Norway has awarded 34 licenses for parts of or entire blocks on the Norwegian shelf to 13 firms in the nation's 16th licensing round. All companies that applied have received license offers. Those receiving offers of operatorship of entire or...

TotalFinaElf.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The dizzying pace at which TotalFinaElf continues to adding big deepwater strikes off Angola shows no sign of slacking. Partners in the prolific Block 17 off Angola unveiled yet another new oil discovery On test, Jasmin 1, drilled in 4,239 ft...

Fletcher Challenge Energy.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Fletcher Challenge Energy spudded the first exploration well on Block BCD off Brunei. The BSA- 1 wildcat will explore various targets at 1,360-3,700 m. The shallower horizons are thought to be potentially oil-bearing, while the deeper zones are...

Sarawak Shell.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Sarawak Shell and Petronas Carigali inked a PSC tar Block SK312 off Sarawak. Shell will operate with a 70:30 equity split with Petronas Carigali. The block, about 200 km northwest of Bintulu and covering about 6,000 sq km in the Central Luconia...

Spinnaker Exploration.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Spinnaker Exploration found more gas in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas. Its High Island A-7, No. 2 well, drilled to 14,475 ft TMD, found 63 ft of net gas pay in three Miocene Rob L sands, Spinnaker expects 20 MMCfd of gas production from the...

US PRODUCERS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... US PRODUCERS are getting more association help IN their battle with MMS over its controversial royalty oil valuation rule. API has sued the agency in US federal court to overturn the rule, following on the heels of the suit IPAA filed last...

Petrobras UK.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Elsewhere on the drilling-production front, Petrobras UK and partners intend to enter into a risk-sharing or performance-incentive contract with one or more contractors to evaluate and develop BLANE field in the UK North Sea. The field lies in...

Karachaganak oil.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The consortium developing Karachaganak oil, gas, and condensate field in western Kazakhstan reaffirmed its pledge to invest $2.5 billion in the project by 2002. Speaking with parliamentary deputies at a conference in Astana, Karachaganak's...

A SINO-RUSSIAN PIPELINE.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... A SINO-RUSSIAN PIPELINE megaproject is making progress. Yukos says its plans to build a $1.7 billion pipeline to China are moving forward. Russia's No. 2 oil company has teamed up with state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and China's...

President Niyazov.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Less prospective now is the proposed Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Turkmenistan President Niyazov reportedly acknowledged there is little hope that construction of the project will begin soon. Niyazov's admission follows just weeks after a March...

Transportadora Sur Brasileira.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Transportadora de Gas de Mercosur will start moving gas through its 440-km pipeline from Parana, Argentina, to Uruguaiana, Brazil, on schedule in June (OGJ, Aug. 9, 1999, p. 34). The line will deliver 2.8 million cu m/day to a 600-Mw power...

Westcoast Energy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Westcoast Energy may build a 140-mile natural gas pipeline from southern British Columbia to northwest Washington state by 2004. Westcoast would be lead developer in the Orca Natural Gas Pipeline project if it wins regulatory approvals. Other...

Florida Gas Transmission.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... El Paso Energy and Enron are teaming up to lay a large-diameter gas pipeline from Savannah, Ga., to a link with a Florida Gas Transmission line in Jacksonville, Fla. Their JV Cypress Natural Gas plans to hold an open season for pipeline...

LNG PROJECT.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... AN LNG PROJECT also tops processing news this week. Pertamina and ARGO let a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the Tangguh LNG plant to a combine of Chiyoda and Mitsubishi as part of a multiple-FEED strategy to promote...

Morphylane plant.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... The world's largest Morphylane plant--with a maximum capacity of about 700,000 tonnes/year of aromatics--started up the Jubail, Saudi Arabia, complex owned by a JV of Chevron and Saudi Arabia's Sabic, reports process developer Krupp Uhde. The...

Oman Oil Corp.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... On the refining-marketing side of the downstream business, India's Oil Ministry is seeking the support of Oman Oil Corp. for the 70 billion rupee Bina refinery at Madhya Pradesh and assures OOC all permits are in hand for the project. OOC,...

Luk Sintez Oil.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Lukoil unit Luk Sintez Oil purchased a 25% stake in Ukraine's Odessa refinery through a stock swap valued at $2.5 million, bringing its shareholding up to 76.9%. Last year, Luk Sintez paid about $6 million for a 51.9% stake in the refinery,...

Aral Poiska Director General Ingo Paap.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... The German marketer Aral will invest about 500 million deutschemarks by 2002 and open over 70 new service stations in Poland, says Aral Poiska Director General Ingo Paap. Aral wants to ultimately own a network of 200 stations and control 10% of...

Letters.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Demand for crude "OPEC too slow" in responding to changes in demand for crude (OGJ, Apr. 3, 2000, P. 19)? One reason crude has fallen $11 in 4 weeks to Apr. 10's $23.85 is that OPEC responded rapidly, having overproduced above its...

Notice anything?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Do you notice anything different about this issue of Oil & Gas Journal? Of course you do. Much has changed: the cover, the page design, the type sizes, the organization. And that's just the beginning. All this happens in service...

Royalty reform in court.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The contentious American issue of federal-royalty reform now heads for the courts. Too bad. It didn't have to reach this point. The Minerals Management Service might have shown serious regard for concerns expressed by the oil and gas...

Offshore NW Europe.(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... A sector facing demise or just transition? What is wrong with the oil and gas sector off Northwest Europe? Why is it ailing? Will it shortly lay claim to that title of the Gulf of Mexico of just a few short years ago: the Dead Sea? ...

Oil service-supply stocks shine while earnings still lag.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Oil field service company stocks outperformed the market during this year's first quarter, but their first quarter earnings were relatively dull by comparison, say analysts Donaldson, Luflin & Jenrette. Service stocks enjoyed a major...

Service-supplier earnings.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... The group "set a new benchmark' for outperformance during the first quarter, said DLJ, with stock values for land drillers up 65%. Deepwater drillers bypassed land drillers as their stocks gained 51% due to increased spending by the majors and...

Peru asset transfer.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Occidental Petroleum Corp. has begun the transfer of its oil field assets in Peru's northern jungle Block 1-AB to Pluspetrol SA, Buenos Aires, following approval from Peru's Energy and Mines Ministry on Apr. 18. The companies have ratified the...

Southern Cone deal.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Repsol-YPF SA has signed an agreement with Petroleo Brasileiro SA that will allow both firms to acquire assets owned by the other, Repsol-YPF announced. The deal is expected to lead to a 20% reduction of Repsol-YPF's dominant share of the fuels...

Colombia.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Reliant Energy, Houston, has sold its indirect interests in five Colombian natural gas companies as it refocuses its service business in the US and Europe. Reliant said it sold interests in the companies, located in central and...

Personnel moves and promotions.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Former Amoco Corp. executive Robert Sheppard has taken over the reins of the recently embattled Sidanko, Named president, he previously served as Sidanko executive vice-president. Sheppard replaces Boris Volkov, who vacated the post in February...

Canadian buying spree.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Seneca Resources Corp., a subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co., has offered to acquire the outstanding shares of Tri Link Resources Ltd., a Calgary-based exploration and production company with 11,500 boe/d of production. The purchase price...

Louis Dreyfus.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas Corp. has agreed to acquire the oil and gas assets of Costilla Energy Inc. for $100 million. The properties are in South Texas, the West Texas Permian basin, and Southeast New Mexico. In September 1999, Costilla...

Patent worries.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... US refiners are concerned that a recent Unocal Corp. patent case could exacerbate tight gasoline supplies this summer. A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's jury decision that gave Unocal a 5.75[cent]/gal royalty on its...

Honduras-Nicaragua border dispute.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... resolution might take years in Hague court A long-simmering dispute over a maritime boundary in the southwestern Caribbean, a region thought to hold potential hydrocarbon reserves, broke into an angry argument between Honduras and Nicaragua...

First Azerbaijani land well drilled under sharing pact.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Ramco Energy PLC, Aberdeen, Scotland, set production casing on its first new well in giant Muradkhanli field, one of Azerbaijan's largest onshore fields. The well is the country's first land well drilled under a production-sharing...

Iran's NIOC discovers supergiant gas, condensate field.(National Iranian Oil Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... National Iranian Oil Co. has discovered a supergiant sweet gas field, Tabnak, in the southern part of the country. Tabnak contains reserves of 15.7 tcf of gas and 240 million bbl of condensate, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh told the...

Sabah Shell presses Kinabalu field drilling.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. has conducted further development drilling at Kinabalu field in the South China Sea off Sabah. The field, operated remotely from Shell's Labuan crude oil terminal on Labuan Island 55 km away, is Malaysia's...

Italy.(Hardman Resources NL)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Hardman Resources NL, Perth, planned to case to 600 m of 7-in, casing and test the Colombo- 1 wildcat 17 km south of Rome. Evaluation of wireline logs indicated possible net thickness of gas-bearing sandstones within Liguridi flysch (Lower...

Libya.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Lundin Oil AB plans to resume exploratory drilling in July with two wildcats on Block NC 177 in the southern Sirte basin. Early results from 400 km of 2D seismic are encouraging, and a 3D survey is under way over En Naga North and West...

Portugal.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Drilling was starting in early April on the Aljubarrota-3 appraisal well in the Lusitanian basin at what could become the country's first commercial hydrocarbon production. Projected TD is 2,400 m. The group led by Mohave Oil & Gas Corp.,...

South Africa.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Petroleum Agency SA, formerly Soekor Petroleum Licensing Unit, let a 3-year contract to Schiumberger GeoQuest to migrate E&P data into workstation-base management systems. The data include 250,000 line km of seismic data, cuttings and...

Newfoundland.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Canadian Imperial Venture Corp., St. John's, was starting static gradient and other pressure tests at the Port au Port 1 oil and gas discovery well in western Newfoundland. The well flowed 51[degrees] gravity oil from 50 ft of pay in Middle...

California.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Continental Operating Co. started gas sales Apr. 9 from the 1 Cygnus in Denverton Creek field, Solano County, in the Sacramento basin. Rate was 3.5 MMcfd of l,120-BTU gas, 25 b/d of condensate, and 12 b/d of water with 3,900 psi FTP from...

Georgia.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Atlantic Oil & Gas LLC, Perry, Ga., was drilling a wildcat in Dooly County. The I Ledford, 7 miles northeast of Vienna, was projected to 5,000 ft and was spudded in early April, IHS Energy Group reported. Georgia has no hydrocarbon...

Michigan.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Midland Cogeneration Venture, the state's largest gas user, marked 10 years of service on Mar. 16. Supplied by 20 gas producing companies and affiliates, mostly under long-term contracts, the plant has burned 800 bcf of gas, Michigan Oil &...

Texas.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... South McMullen County has its first horizontal well in Cretaceous Edwards. Abraxas Petroleum Corp., San Antonio, tested the 1 Henry, near Tilden, Tex., from a horizontal interval at 10,865-11,273 ft. It flowed 4.5 MMcfd of gas with 25...

Petrophysical insights.
May 1, 2000... contradict Archie's equation Laboratory and industry-based evidence shows that recovered waters from hydrocarbon-filled formations may have higher resistivity levels than those found in nearby water-filled formations. If true, this...

Elf, Agip to hike Qatari field capacity.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Qatari Minister of Energy & Industry Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah has approved a $200 million expansion plan for Al Khaleej offshore oil field. The plan will double production capacity to 60,000 b/d, according to Elf Petroleum Qatar Managing...

Barite demand, prices to rebound by 2002.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The demand for barite along with prices are expected to rebound by 2002 after falling in response to a decline in worldwide drilling activity spawned by low crude oil prices. That is the conclusion of a study of global barite demand by...

Partnership turns around.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... refinery in 2 years With the unprecedented pace of change in Eastern Europe during the past decade, local refineries must improve their technical and financial performances to survive. With these goals in mind, Industrija Nafte d.d....

Polyester capacity utilization may top 100%.
May 1, 2000... Global polyester and intermediates utilization rates will exceed 100% of nameplate capacity by 2007 if worldscale plants are not built, according to a study of polyester and paraxylene by Tecnon (UK) Ltd., London. In addition, new...

Thai Olefins to boost ethylene capacity gas used.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Thai Olefins Co. (TOG) plans to launch a $120 million project to nearly double its ethylene cracking capacity while switching its feedstock from naphtha to ethane from natural gas. The move comes as TOG is on the verge of successfully...

Pig behavior provides data.(pipeline inspection and gauging)
May 1, 2000... for monitoring pipeline geometry To inspect and monitor cost effectively the seabed geometry of their newly laid pipelines offshore Nigeria, Moni Pulo Ltd. and Brass Exploration Unlimited deployed a system that tracks the progress of a pig...

Hainan seeks foreign capital for pipeline.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The second necessary piece of information is the speed of the pig. This can be obtained by a number of means, but the most accurate measurement of local pig speed can be obtained by using SAAM's onboard time-base to measure the period it takes...

Tanker spills decline amid increased trade.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Spills of crude oil and refined products from tankers have declined markedly since the 1970s, despite a pronounced increase in tanker trade, according to the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) Using...

Industry confronts challenges.(difficulty in discovering hydrocarbon)(Industry Overview)
May 1, 2000... in recovering deep water Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbons Deep water complicates efforts and increases costs for developing and producing hydrocarbon accumulations. But as significant new hydrocarbon discoveries are being made in deeper...

Reel-barge saves time in GOM gathering-line pipelay.(Gulf of Mexico)
May 1, 2000... BP Amoco Pipeline Co., Houston, construction manager and operator of the Main Pass oil gathering system (MPOG), successfully avoided weather-related downtime in the Gulf of Mexico in September 1999 by reeling 8.5 miles of 8 5/8-in. OD pipe in...

Engineers overcoming bicenter drillbit design hurdles for offshore applications.(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Recent developments in bicenter drillbit design have overcome many of the problems that once precluded their use in costly offshore operations, now allowing operators to eliminate many non-drilling activities, such as bit trips, while improving...

Retrievable packer.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... A new generation of single-string retrievable packers is rated for service in high pressure/high temperature environments. The Reliant Series packers tolerate high tension loads and are designed for easy set and release. Model M is a...

Unit provides remote power.(generator)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Here's the Minotaur 2500W Series generator, a compact, spark-ignition, prime-power unit designed for long-life, continuous unattended operation. It's suited for remote off-grid locations, particularly pipeline cathodic protection. The...

Packaged communications.(solutions for gathering information from remote areas)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Packaged communications solutions for remote areas help extend data collection and reporting capabilities to areas not previously reached. This is done via enhanced network connectivity in combination with a new "Director" series of data...

Radar tank gauge.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The radar tank gauge TankRadar Rex is designed with an open interface to fit into existing tank gauging systems. This multivendor connectivity helps make it easy to incorporate in field bus systems of other makes. The open system design...

Knife gate valve bulletin.(knife gate valves)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... The new 2-page, full-color Bulletin 30.00-3, yours free for the asking, describes how high performance knife gate valves are designed to reduce maintenance in oilsands operations. The bulletin provides valve specifications, which include...

Albert-Garaudy and Associates, Inc.(John LaBarbera appointed as senior vice president and general manager)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... New Orleans, La., has named John LaBarbera senior vice president and general manager, Houston area operations. Wally Veron has been named E&I department manager, Metairie, La. LaBarbera joined AGA after a successful career as an engineer in...

Aker Maritime.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Houston, Tex., has created two new departments: Riser Technology & Well Systems and Deepwater Solutions Research & Development. The Riser Technology and Well Systems department designs and analyzes deepwater riser concepts including...

Furmanite Worldwide.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Houston, Tex., has named W Scott Wiseman vice president of marketing and project development. Wiseman joined Furmanite at the start of the year as part of the company's global realignment process that has centralized marketing, sales support...

Core Laboratories.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... has named two corporate vice presidents, Jim Gresham and Patrick Keenan, to lead its business development efforts in the U.S. and internationally. Jim Gresham was vice president of Tomoseis from 1998 until its merger with Core Laboratories...

Halliburton Co.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... has named Robert Heinemann chief technology officer. Heinmann will direct activities related to Halliburton's extensive technology portfolio supporting its customers in the energy services, construction, engineering, maintenance, and equipment...

Paradigm Geophysical Ltd.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... has named Larry Lenig Jr. president of Paradigm's US operations, replacing Steve Goldsberry. Goldsberry has been named to head the newly formed product business group. Lenig joins Paradigm from Grant Geophysical, Inc., where he served as...

The Dietsmann Group.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... has announced the incorporation of Dietswell Engineering. This new business unit will deliver comprehensive resources in the contiguous fields of integrated drilling studies, well engineering, pre-drilling preparation, well-site support,...

Shared Earth Technologies.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Denver, Colo., a geoscience software developer, has named David Armitage to its board of directors. Armitage was the founder, former president, and CEO of GeoGraphix, a desktop interpretation system provider for the oil and gas industry....

Scott Pickford.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... a Core Laboratories company and an international geoscience consultancy, has named Andy Kirchin managing director of Scott Pickford's Europe/Africa/Middle East operations, based in Croydon, UK, and offering integrated reservoir solutions from...

Grant Geophysical, Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2000... Houston, Tex., has named Darci Matos area manager Southern Latin America. Matos will be a key member of the regional management team based in the Grant Rio de Janeiro office. Prior to joining Grant, Matos held the position of president of...

Visma Marine.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Oslo, Norway, has named Rune Martini regional managing director of SpecTec's US headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Martini has extensive management experience. Most recently, he was the managing director with global responsibilities of...