Companies in the news

Santa Fe Energy Resources signed two production sharing agreements (PSAs) with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) for Blocks 16/02 and 16/05 in the South China Sea. The blocks, covering 874,000 and 746,000 acres, respectively, are located about 60 mi southeast of Hong Kong in water depths of 240 to 600 ft. Meanwhile, Santa Fe also signed a concession agreement with the Thailand Ministry of Industry for offshore Gulf of Thailand Block B7/38. This 2.3-million-acre tract lies about 200 mi south-southwest of Bangkok. The initial three-year work program totals about $9 million, and includes reprocessing existing seismic data, acquiring more 3-D seismic and drilling one well.

Ocean Energy agreed to sell its Canadian subsidiary for about $74 million to Quintana Minerals Canada Corp. of Houston.

Oiltools International Ltd. completed its acquisition of the well technology division of Pall Corp.

Exxon Corp.’s 15% working interest PSA on the Araz-Alov-Sharg offshore exploration block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea became effective on March 23. Located about 110 mi south-southeast of Baku, the block covers about 550 sq mi in water depths of 1,300 to 3,000 ft.

Technip acquired the KTI Group.

Magellan Corp. and Topcon Corp. formed a jointly-owned company to develop and sell precise positioning products for the surveying, industrial geographic information systems mapping, and machine control markets. Magellan will transfer certain assets, personnel and technology in exchange for cash, royalties, free access to technology developed by the partnership and a 30% ownership of the new company. Topcon will contribute assets and personnel to the venture.

ASEP opened a manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, to service the Western Hemisphere. With about 60,000 sq ft of building space on a 10-acre site, it will offer mechanical, electrical and hydraulic assembly, full fabrication and testing capabilities, and a complete engineering staff.

AMSTED Industries agreed to sell its Macwhite Co. division to Wire Rope Corp. of America, Inc.

Birwelco Ltd. officially changed its name to AGRA Birwelco Ltd., following the acquisition by AGRA Inc.

Using the resources of Balmoral Marine Ltd., Balmoral Trident Projects Ltd., formed a joint venture with Trident Offshore Ltd. to supply turnkey mooring system packages to the offshore industry.

Canyon Offshore won the Corporate Excellence Award from the Marine Technology Society for fast growth and business acumen.

Apache Corp. signed a farm-in agreement covering three Polish Oil & Gas Co. (POGC) concessions near the city of Krakow in southern Poland. Plans call for production through existing POGC gas wells on the Lachowice Concession. Based on test results, new surface facilities could be tied into an existing pipeline about eight miles away.

Schlumberger Geco-Prakla was granted approval by Brazil’s Agência National do Petróleo to initiate a 2-D regional seismic program combining gravity and magnetic data in six basins offshore Brazil. Two vessels are being mobilized and a third is being prepared to ensure rapid turnaround of such a large survey.

SPC International NV., a Sorbent Products Co. Inc., recently acquired the Rhodiasorb division of Rhodia AG.

El Paso Energy Corp. and Sonat Inc. agreed to merge the two companies. The total enterprise value of the combined company, based on El Paso’s closing price on March 17 would exceed $14 billion.

Federal Signal Corp. Electrical Products division acquired Atkinson Dynamics.

Veritas DGC Inc. signed a letter of intent to acquire Enertec Resource Services, Inc. in a stock-for-stock transaction.

Year-end 1998 reserves for Nuevo Energy totaled 257.4 million boe, down 12% from year-end 1997 reserves of 292.4 million boe.

R&B Falcon Corp. completed its merger with Cliffs Drilling Co., including 16 jackup rigs and three self-contained platform rigs. This expands R&B’s fleet to 42 jackup rigs.

Deepwater Consultant Alliance opened a new Houston, Texas, office.

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Copyright © 1999 Gulf Publishing Company