The Oil and Gas Journal articles from October 2002

The Oil and Gas Journal archives from October 2002

Market movement. (Newsletter).(oil refiners in the Gulf of Mexico)
October 28, 2002... Analyst sees storms helping refiners Back-to-back storms in the central Gulf of Mexico "have improved the lot of US oil refiners considerably" through a "massive transfer of tightness from crude oil into oil products," said Paul...

US Industry Scoreboard.(crude petroleum prices)(Illustration)
October 28, 2002... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD--10/28 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. Change, YTD Latest week 10/18 average year ago (1) % average (1) Demand, 1,000 b/d Motor gasoline 9,409 8,620 ...

Charter rates. (Industry Trends).(for crude carriers)
October 28, 2002... CHARTER RATES for very large crude carriers have skyrocketed within the past few months, said analysts at Poten & Partners Inc., New York. They blame dwindling vessel availability and increased transportation activity for the escalating...

US marginal oil wells. (Industry Trends).(oil wells are declining)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... US MARGINAL OIL WELLS are declining both in number of wells and production volume. The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) said that the number of marginal wells was down by 8,170 to 403,459 in 2001 compared with 2000....

Perupetro. (Government Developments).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... PERU RATIFIED a 30% cut in royalties to help spur exploration activity and boost Peru's average 97,000 b/d oil production. President Alejandro Toledo authorized state oil company Petroleos del Peru SA (Perupetro) to allow the cut....

Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. (Government Developments).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... A CANADIAN national renewable fuels strategy is being promoted by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. CRFA called on the Canadian federal government to introduce a National Renewable Fuels Strategy CRFA estimates the strategy would...

ENI spa. (Exploration).(Agip KCO discovers hydrocarbons in Caspian Sea)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... ENI SPA subsidiary Agip KCO (formerly Offshore Kazakhstan International Operating Co.), operator of a North Caspian Sea production-sharing agreement off Kazakhstan, reported that hydrocarbons have been found with the Kalamkas well in the...

Thai Shell Exploration & Production Co. Ltd. (Exploration).(grants five new production licenses)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Thai authorities have granted five new production licenses in Thailand to existing concessionaire groups: Thai Shell Exploration & Production Co. Ltd. (South Pratu Tao prospect, part of the onshore Block S1), Pacific Tiger Energy Inc....

The US National Transportation Safety Board. (Pipelines).(rules on gasoline pipeline rupture)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... THE US National Transportation Safety Board ruled earlier this month that the rupture of an Olympic Pipe Line Co. gasoline pipeline in Washington in 1999 probably resulted from inadequate inspection procedures and poor oversight of valve...

Williams Oil Gathering LLC. (Pipelines).(awards contract to Horizon Offshore Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Williams Oil Gathering LLC has awarded a contract to Horizon Offshore Inc. subsidiary Horizon Offshore Contractors Inc. to install 49.96 miles of 20-in, oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico for the Mountaineer shallow-water pipeline system,...

Petroleos Mexicanos SA. (Drilling).
October 28, 2002... PETROLEOS MEXICANOS SA awarded contracts to Pride International Inc., Houston, for two additional Gulf of Mexico jack up to drill in the Bay of Campeche. Pemex is contracting the Pride Nebraska and Pride Alaska for 2,123 days, at a total...

Calder platform installed in East Irish Sea. (Quick Takes).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Burlington Resources (Irish Sea) Ltd. has successfully installed its Calder field platform in the East Irish Sea off Barrow, Furness, England. First-phase hook-up is expected to be completed by early November. The unmanned platform has...

Lyondell Chemical Co. (Petrochemicals).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... LYONDELL CHEMICAL CO., Houston, completed the lab-scale testing of a one-step, direct oxidation, propylene oxide (PO) technology and is ready to pilot the process on a larger scale. The company plans to build an integrated pilot plant at...

Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC). (Petrochemicals).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) has confirmed that it is reviving a plan to build Taiwan's eighth naphtha cracking plant. CPC Pres. Pan Wen-yen said that the plan would be finalized within 3 months. The plan calls for a...

Encana Corp. (Development).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... ENCANA CORP., Calgary, and joint venture partner MGV Energy Inc., the Calgary-based subsidiary of Quicksilver Resources Inc., Fort Worth, have begun development drilling in the previously announced coalbed methane project on the Palliser...

Statoil ASA. (Development).(Dragados Offshore SA)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Statoil ASA has awarded a contract valued at almost 300 million kroner to Dragados Offshore SA, Madrid, to build the riser balcony and flare boom for Kristin field's floating production platform. The completed structures are due to be shipped...

Calendar.
October 28, 2002... * Denotes new listing or a change in previously published information. Additional information on upcoming seminars and conferences is available through OGJ Online. Oil & Gas Journal's Internet-based electronic information source at...

Guarding the language. (Journally Speaking).(quality of modern English teachers, common grammatical errors)(Column)
October 28, 2002... They don't make English teachers like they used to. English teachers used to be grey-haired scolds, usually female, who wore scratchy sweaters year-round, painted their fingernails and lips scarlet, and fought an epic war against...

Energy bill founders. (Editorial).(Editorial)
October 28, 2002... Chances are fading that the 107th Congress will pass a comprehensive energy bill. So who needs a comprehensive energy bill? The package approach has become a problem. Divergent energy bills from the House and Senate have been under study...

Oil industry adapting to evolving new paradigm on corporate governance, accountability. (Special Report: Industry Leaders Forum).
October 28, 2002... Enron Corp.'s implosion and the wave of corporate scandals that has followed it in the past year have become the business world's financial equivalent of the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill off Alaska. In other words, nothing will...

Canadian oil and gas companies' disclosure rules getting overhauled. (General Interest).
October 28, 2002... The first major overhaul in 2 decades of Canadian disclosure regulations for publicly traded oil and gas companies is now well under way. The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) is spearheading the project to develop new legislation that...

BP's Browne: transparency key to restoring trust; forum: corporate governance and accountability. (General Interest).
October 28, 2002... The current crisis in corporate governance has involved only a small minority of companies, but it has damaged trust in the entire corporate world. The polls show the extent of the damage. Over two thirds of Americans think senior...

TotalFinaElf's Desmarest: long-term view neglected; forum: corporate governance and accountability. (Industry Readers Forum).
October 28, 2002... Much of the recent debate on how to strengthen corporate governance, amid the spate of recent accounting scandals and high-profile big business failures, has tilted the debate too much towards the short term--at the expense of a company s...

Energy bill hopes fade as Congress leaves for campaigns. (General Interest).
October 28, 2002... An ethanol mandate, oil and gas production incentives, pipeline safety, and other important industry issues may have to be revisited next year as the fate of sweeping energy reform legislation grows increasingly uncertain. "The bill's...

NELPI's Langenkamp: what happens with Iraq's oil? (Point of View).(new director of University of Tulsa's National Energy-Environment Law and Policy Institute R. Dobie Langenkamp)
October 28, 2002... The new director of the University of Tulsa's National Energy-Environment Law & Policy Institute (NELPI) takes the helm at a pivotal point in the history of world oil markets. The prospect of a US-led military campaign against Iraq has...

Canada and Kyoto. (Watching Government).(some critics want Canada to abandon Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions)
October 28, 2002... Canadian industry and provincial leaders want their federal government to reconsider the idea of slashing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. Oil-rich Alberta has been the most vocal, urging a complete...

WesternGeco to fold land operations in Lower 48, Canada. (Company News).
October 28, 2002... In a move that may be indicative of the economic climate that oil services and supply companies will have to weather in the short to medium term, London-based seismic joint venture WesternGeco--owned through a 70:30 respective partnership of...

Fomer FERC commissioner joins INGAA as executive vice-president. (Personnel Moves and Promotions).(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)(Interstate Natural Gas Association of America)(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Donald F. Santa Jr., a former commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will join the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America as an executive vice president, the association said. Santa has an extensive background...

Upstream moves. (Personnel Moves and Promotions).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Richard Jeffs was named president and CEO of Hong Kong-based exploration and production company Brek Energy Corp. Jeffs succeeds Gregory Pek, who will retire but retain a seat on the company's board. The company also announced it will move...

Downstream moves. (Personnel Moves and Promotions).
October 28, 2002... Ashland Inc., Covington, Ky., announced that two of its executives have swapped positions for a period of 6 months. The move--which is designed "to strengthen Ashland's technological expertise"--involves Frances E. Lockwood, senior...

Other moves. (Personnel Moves and Promotions).(NW Natural Gas Co.; Statoil ASA's Snohvit project; Semco Energy Gas Co.)
October 28, 2002... Mark S. Dodson has been appointed CEO of Portland, Ore.-based natural gas distribution company NW Natural Gas Co., effective Jan. 1, 2003. Dodson succeeds Richard G. Reiten, who will remain chairman of NW Natural's board. Dodson joined...

Turkmenistan faces challenges in export transportation options. (Exploration & Development).
October 28, 2002... This is the fourth and concluding part of a series on Turkmenistan's oil and gas exploration, production, production sharing, and transportation prospects. Part 1 focused on the country's ambitious goal of significantly boosting oil and...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
October 28, 2002... Fig. 3 incorrectly portrayed the seismic data in an article on FrioYicksburg exploration focus areas in Mexico's Burgos basin (OGJ, Sept. 23, 2002, p. 35). The figure now displays the seismic at the accurate orientation.

Equations lead to asphaltene deposition predictions. (Drilling & Production).(Bibliography)
October 28, 2002... An evaluation found that when tuned, the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) and Peng-Robinson (PR) equations of state (EOS) can predict heavy oil densities and SARA fractions with only a smaller error. One needs to know these values in order to...

Industry funded project investigates jack up rig spudcan, footprint interactions. (Drilling).(international venture)
October 28, 2002... A group of 10 oil and gas industry participants that includes operators, contractors, and a government agency have funded a joint-industry project (JIP) to investigate and reduce problems associated with jack-up drilling rig spudcan...

Improvements stabilize Drizo glycol-enhancement process. (Gas Processing).
October 28, 2002... An improvement to the Drizo gasdehydration process has made the process far more stable and reliable than the earlier version. The latest enhancement has demonstrated a consistent low level of water content in the exit gas, with an energy...

Diluent availability will constrain Canada's heavy oil, bitumen development. (Pipelines).
October 28, 2002... Despite significant proposed investments to develop Canada's heavy oil and bitumen reserves, production will continue to lag developments in Latin America. Besides limitations on labor in the construction trades in Alberta there are...

New flow module has meter proving capability. (Equipment/Software/Literature).
October 28, 2002... A new flow module with meter-proving capability is available to the industry. The 140 MPM 204 00sc four channel flow and meter-proving module for the Modicon Quantum automation series PLC, combined with an analog input module and a...

New continuous emission monitoring system. (Equipment/Software/Literature).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... The new [FGA.sup.11] continuous emissions monitoring system measures CO, [O.sub.2], [CO.sub.2] NO, [NO.sub.2], and [SO.sub.2] in any combination. It provides NOx measurement by directly measuring all nitrogen oxides present in flue gas....

Transmitter uses natural gas as pneumatic supply. (Equipment/Software/Literature).
October 28, 2002... The new model IPX2 current-to-pressure transmitter has received Canadian Standards Association approval for use with natural gas as its pneumatic supply. This allows the unit to be installed at gas gathering stations, compressor...

New flow data logger is hand-held tool. (Equipment/Software/Literature).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... The PT Flow Master is a new hand-held tool designed for velocity, turbulence, and flow mapping of process duct and flue gas airflows. The instrument reports, displays, and logs information. It is fully configurable; the user is able...

API Imports of Crude and Products. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... API IMPORTS OF CRUDE AND PRODUCTS Districts 1-4 District 5 10-18 10-11 (1) 10-18 10-11 (1) 2002 2002 ...

API Crude and Product Stocks. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... API CRUDE AND PRODUCT STOCKS Motor gasoline Blending Jet fuels Crude oil Total comp. (2) Naphtha Kerosine ...

API Refinery Report. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... API REFINERY REPORT--OCTOBER 18, 2002 REFINERY OPERATIONS Total Input refinery Crude to crude Operable Percent ...

OGJ Crack Spread. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... OGJ CRACK SPREAD 10-18-02 * 10-19-01 * Change Change $/bbl % SPOT PRICES Product Value 34.80 24.87 9.93 39.9 ...

OGJ Gasoline Prices. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... OGJ GASOLINE PRICES (Approx, prices for self-service unleaded gasoline) Price Pump pump ex tax price * price 10-16-02 10-16-02 10-17-01 ...

Refined Product Prices. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... REFINED PRODUCT PRICES Spot market product prices 10-11-02 cents/gal Motor gasoline (conventional-regular) New York Harbor 82.80 Half Coast ...

Baker Hughes Rig Count. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... BAKER HUGHES RIG COUNT 10-18-02 10-19-01 Alabama 2 8 Alaska 10 14 Arkansas 2 1 California 19 34 ...

Smith Rig Count. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... SMITH RIG COUNT 10-18-02 10-19-01 Proposed depth, Rig Percent Rig Percent ft count footage * count footage * 0-2,500 41 2.4 55...

OGJ Production Report. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... OGJ PRODUCTION REPORT (Crude oil and lease condensate) 10-18-02 (1) 10-19-01 (2) 1,000 b/d Alabama 22 25 Alaska 960 894 California...

US Crude Prices. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... US CRUDE PRICES $/bbl * 10-18-02 Alaska-North Slope 27[degrees] 21.03 South Louisiana Sweet 29.75 California-Kern River 13[degrees] 21.75 Lost Hills 35[degrees] ...

World Crude Prices. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... WORLD CRUDE PRICES $/bbl (1) 10-11-02 United Kingdom-Brent 38[degrees] 28.07 Russia-Urals 32[degrees] 26.87 Saudi Light 34[degrees] 25.79 Dubai Fateh 32[degrees] ...

US Natural Gas Storage. (Statistics).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... US NATURAL GAS STORAGE (1) 10-11-02 10-4-02 Change Producing region 877 864 13 Consuming region east 1,839 1,810 29 Consuming region west 412 406 6 Total...

World Oil Balance. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... WORLD OIL BALANCE 2002 2001 1st 4th 3rd 2nd 1st qtr. qtr. qtr. qtr. qtr. ...

US Petroleum Imports from Source Country. (Statistics).
October 28, 2002... US PETROLEUM IMPORTS FROM SOURCE COUNTRY Chg. vs. Average previous June May YTD year...

OECD Net Oil Imports. (Statistics).(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)(Illustration)
October 28, 2002... OECD * NET OIL IMPORTS Apr. Mar. Feb. Apr. 2002 2002 2002 2001 1,000 b/d Canada -965 ...

OECD Imports from OPEC. (Statistics).(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)(Illustration)
October 28, 2002... OECD * IMPORTS FROM OPEC Apr. Mar. Feb. Apr. 2002 2002 2002 2001 1,000 b/d Canada 361 ...

Oil Stocks in OECD Countries. (Statistics).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
October 28, 2002... OIL STOCKS IN OECD * COUNTRIES Chg. vs. previous May Apr. Mar. May year ...

Congress should cut spending, boost wealth creation. (The Editor's Perspective).
October 28, 2002... The vanishing federal budget surplus has raised cries for repeal of cuts in income taxation that began last year. But a Heritage Foundation analyst thinks politicians should find a different culprit. Brian M. Riedl, a fellow in the...

Oil fundamentals clearer as geopolitics gets muddier. (Market Hotline).
October 28, 2002... Even as the picture gets clearer on the status of the physical fundamentals underlying oil markets today, the geopolitical outlook just gets more scrambled. The only reason futures prices retreated a bit in mid-October was a...

PT Medco Energi International Tbk. (Exploration & Development: Indonesia).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... PT Medco Energi International Tbk, Jakarta, agreed to acquire as much as an 80% working interest in and operator-ship of the 11,600 sq km Rombebai block in Irian Jaya from Ramu International LLC, Denver. The block is mostly onshore along...

Private Dorado Gas Resources LLC. (Exploration & Development: Missouri).(Brief Article)
October 28, 2002... Private Dorado Gas Resources LLC, Englewood, Cob., is testing a coalbed methane pilot project in the Forest City basin on behalf of Calpine Corp., Denver. The project is to evaluate Pennsylvanian age coals at less than 1,200 ft in...

Market movement. (Newsletter).
October 21, 2002... IEA: High oil prices pose 'disincentive' for storage. Total oil stocks in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries fell in August, and world oil production increased in September, but the International Energy Agency...

US Industry Scoreboard.(Illustration)
October 21, 2002... US INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD--10/21 4 wk. 4 wk. avg. Change, YTD Latest week 10/11 average year ago (1) % average (1) Demand, 1,000 b/d Motor gasoline 9,293 8,596 ...

California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership. (Industry Trends).(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... CALIFORNIA plans to dramatically increase the number of natural gas vehicles on its roads. The newly formed California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership has outlined 10-year targets for increasing the number of NGVs in use to 619,000 from...

Ton Brown Inc. (Industry Trends).(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... LOW PRICES for Rockies gas continues to spur shut-ins in the region. Ton Brown Inc., Denver, has curtailed 20 MMcfd of gas production in the Rocky Mountains because of low regional gas prices, but the company's operating performance is...

Energy Security Analysis Inc. (Government Developments).
October 21, 2002... FRANCE'S Foreign Affairs ministry has confirmed that "initial results" of the investigation being conducted by French, Yemeni, and American investigators aboard the tanker Limburg indicate a terrorist attack. However, the investigation...

The US Coast Guard. (Government Developments).(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... THE US COAST GUARD on Oct. 11 created three new security zones for LNG carriers in Boston Harbor to protect vessels and surrounding areas from sabotage or accidents. The new zoning is likely to mean more vessel traffic congestion but is...

Petroleo Brasileiro SA. (Production).
October 21, 2002... PETROLEO BRASILEIRO SA (Petrobras) has stabilized its P-34 floating production, storage, and offloading vessel off Brazil that suddenly listed at 32[degrees] Oct. 13, interrupting oil and gas production and threatening to capsize the vessel....

Petro-Canada. (Quick Takes).(MacKay River, Fort McMurray, Alberta)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... Petro-Canada started up operations Oct. 9 at its $290 million (Can.) MacKay River oil sands facility 60 km northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta. MacKay River utilizes steam-assisted gravity drainage to extract bitumen from more than 100 m...

EXCO Resources Inc. (Quick Takes).(New production facilities at natural gas well)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... In other production news, Dallas-based EXCO Resources Inc. has installed temporary production facilities on the Miami Corp. No. 35 natural gas well in South Pecan Lake field, Cameron Parish, La., following a loss of control Oct. 1 during...

Teekay Shipping Corp. (Tankers).(new Aframax oil tankers)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... TEEKAY SHIPPING CORP., Nassau, has entered into agreements with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., both of South Korea, to purchase two new, high-specification Aframax (80,000-200,000 dwt)...

SGR Holdings LLC. (Storage).(new salt cavern natural gas storage facility)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... SGR HOLDINGS LLC, Houston, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, SG Resources Mississippi LLC (SGRM), has received FERC approval to construct and operate the Southern Pines Energy Center, a new salt cavern natural gas storage facility...

Tesco Corp. (Drilling).(casing-drilling technology)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... TESCO CORP., Calgary, has completed the successful application of its casing-drilling technology on a modified conventional drilling rig in South Texas adapted for Conoco Inc. (now ConocoPhillips). Previously, the technology of drilling with...

Murphy Oil Corp. (Exploration).(appraisal of new discovery)
October 21, 2002... MURPHY OIL CORP. has successfully appraised its previously announced Kikeh No. 1 oil discovery on deepwater Block K, off Sabah, Malaysia. The discovery well, the first deepwater oil discovery off Malaysia, was drilled this summer and...

EL Paso Energy partners LP. (Pipelines).(pipeline agreement)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... EL PASO ENERGY PARTNERS LP has finalized agreements with Red Hawk field's equal-interest partners--Ocean Energy Inc. and Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp.--to build and operate a new 16-in. natural gas gathering pipeline from the field, which lies...

Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd. (Gas Processing).(new liquefied petroleum gas floating production storage and offloading unit)(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... CABINDA GULF OIL CO. LTD., a unit of Chevron Texaco Corp., has arranged for the world's first newbuild LPG FPSO, which is slated for operation in Sanha field on Block O, off Angola. Cabinda Gulf--operator of Sanha field, with a 39.2%...

Correction.(Brief Article)
October 21, 2002... Anadarko Petroleum Corp. expects to book 50 million boe of proved reserves at the closing of its acquisition of Houston-based Howell Corp., not 500 million bbl as reported in OGJ Oct. 7, 2002, p. 32.

Letters.
October 21, 2002... Global staffing challenge Although Janeen Judah's Point of View article was interesting, I am puzzled at times by our industry's ability to overlook what I believe may be the only way through the personnel problems she described (OGJ,...

Independents' day. (Journally Speaking).(independent oil companies)
October 21, 2002... With the US Congress presently embroiled in a debate over legislation that would become the nation's energy policy--all in the wake of the terrorist events that occurred more than a year ago--the importance of a steady, reliable supply of...

Fixing NEPA. .(National Environmental Protection Act )(Editorial)
October 21, 2002... An effort to streamline National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) regulation helps to clarify a basic question: Do environmental groups want to protect the environment or just impede economic activity? The White House Council on...

US independents grappling with changing energy policy, limited access to land, capital. (Special Report: Independent Operations).
October 21, 2002... The role of US independent exploration and production companies continues to evolve along with the changing industry environment. Amid tensions in the Middle East--particularly regarding President George W. Bush's proposed military...

IPAA's True: membership, energy policy top concerns. (Point of View).(Independent Petroleum Association of America)
October 21, 2002... The Independent Petroleum Association of America's plate is a full one of late, according to IPAA Chairman Diemer True. The association, under True's guidance, is watching keenly the actions of the US House and Senate as those bodies debate...

IPC: technology key to pipelines meeting rapid change. (General Interest).(International Pipeline Conference and Exhibition )
October 21, 2002... Faced with "economic realities of need and opportunity," today's pipeline industry can rely on one thing to meet and adapt to change: technology. That was the message delivered by George W. Tenley Jr., president of Pipeline Research...