Petroleum

Anadarko Petroleum said its annual energy production is expectedto grow at an average rate of 18% per year, from 48 million energyequivalent barrels (EEBs) in 1998 to an estimated 92 million EEBsin 2002. The company said the new production forecast is based ondevelopment of known fields and does not include any newexploration discoveries.

Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and Phillips Petroleum signed a letterof intent to combine all of the operating assets of UltramarDiamond Shamrock and the North American refining, marketing, andtransportation (RM&T) operations of Phillips into a jointventure company named Diamond 66. The deal will not affect Phillipsnatural gas activities, a spokeswoman said.

Occidental Petroleum’s oil and gas drilling subsidiary laid off80 employees in Bakersfield, CA, on Wednesday, and will eliminateanother 130 jobs as part of a restructuring triggered by low crudeoil prices and its poor stock price performance. The subsidiary’swork force at its Bakersfield headquarters will be pared down to135 by eliminating 210 jobs and transferring another 50 employees.The company’s stock price plummeted last month to a new 52-week lowof 17 3/4 from a high of 30 3/4. It’s stock closed up 9/16 onWednesday following the announcement, but fell 1/8 Thursday to 221/8.

Tesoro E&P Company L.P., a wholly-owned affiliate of TesoroPetroleum Corp., announced earlier this week it purchased a 50%working interest from Sheridan Energy in the Stiles Ranch Fieldnorth of Amarillo, TX.

Anadarko Petroleum lamented low oil prices when it reportedsecond quarter net income that was about one-fifth what it was inthe same period last year. For the second quarter net incomeapplicable to common stockholders was $2.7 million Revenues were$137.6 million. By comparison, net income for the second quarter of1997 was $13.8 million on revenues of $139 million.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. reported a $28 million increase innet income for the second quarter compared with 2Q97. Resultsreflected a $290 million pretax gain from the sale of certain oiland gas assets. Earnings before special items were $47 million forthe second quarter of 1998, compared with $138 million for the sameperiod in 1997, reflecting lower crude oil prices.

Dynegy Inc., formerly NGC Corp. has purchased ComptonPetroleum’s Canadian midstream assets, including 78 miles ofpipelines, and the 82 MMcf/d Mazeppa and 15 MMcf/d Gladysprocessing plants in southern Alberta, for C$60 million. The dealalso includes a transportation, processing and revenue sharingagreement whereby Compton is assured processing and transportationcapacity at set rates and is paid a fee for bringing in new wellsand production.

PanCanadian Petroleum subsidiary PanCanadian Gulf of MexicoInc., made a deep-water oil and gas discovery in the Gulf of Mexicothat it likened to Shell’s prolific Auger Field. The Llanodiscovery well, in Garden Banks Block 386 about 137 miles offshoreLouisiana, drilled to a record depth for the Gulf of 27,864 feet.The sands at Llano correlate closely to similar sands encounteredby Shell Deepwater Development in the Auger Field, less than 15miles to the southwest, containing a reported 220 million barrelsof oil equivalent reserves. Auger has reported reserves of 220million Boe with approximate production of 100,000 barrels of oiland 300 MMcf of gas per day.

The Natural Gas Supply Association and Independent PetroleumAssociation of America made their displeasure clear over PresidentBill Clinton’s decision last week to extend a moratorium onoffshore drilling. “Cleaner air and increased use of affordable,clean-burning natural gas depend on access to the large natural gasfields off the nation’s coasts,” said NGSA President Nicholas Bush.”Continuing today’s severe restrictions on offshore natural gasproduction is simply not in the nation’s best interest.”