The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has begun laying pipe for the pipeline that will connect western Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, reports Chevron Corp. The company owns a 15% interest in CPC and a 45% position in Tengizchevroil, operator of Tengiz. The first section will run 450 miles from Komsolmoskya to Novorossiysk. Initial export capacity of the 900-mile system will be 560,000 barrels per day; first oil through the line is slated for mid-2001. CPC is designed to ultimately handle 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. The pipeline will allow maximum development of Tengiz, which contains recoverable reserves of 6- to 9 billion barrels of oil. Production from the field, currently at 210,000 barrels per day, is scheduled to peak at 700,000 barrels per day in 2010. Interests in CPC are held by the governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Oman; and by firms Chevron, LukArco, Rosneft, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Agip, BG and Kerr-McGee Corp. In separate business, the government of Kazakhstan and four foreign concerns have agreed to build a 280-mile pipeline across Western Kazakhstan to connect the immense Karachaganak gas and oil field to the CPC line. Texaco, Agip, BG and Lukoil are participating in this venture, which will allow Karachaganak oil to be exported to international markets. -Peggy Williams 1 Canada Shell Canada Ltd. and its partners, Chevron Canada Resources Ltd. and Western Oil Sands Inc., have approved the start of the Athabasca Oil Sands project in Alberta. Production from the 155,000-bbl.-per-day project is expected to begin in late 2002. The project comprises the C$1.8-billion Muskeg River bitumen mine north of Fort McMurray; the C$1.7-billion Scotford Upgrader to be built next to Shell's Scotford refinery near Fort Saskatchewan; and a pipeline connecting the two facilities. Shell Canada holds 60% of the project while Chevron and Western each hold a 20% stake. In addition to its investment in the joint venture, Shell Canada will devote C$400 million to modify its Scotford Refinery to handle the synthetic crudes produced by the project. 2 Bolivia Tesoro Petroleum Corp. has agreed to sell its Bolivian assets to BG Plc for $100 million. The deal includes five shared-risk contracts conferring exploration and production rights on more than a million gross acres in two producing blocks and three nonproducing blocks. 3 Brazil Enterprise Oil and its partner Odebrecht have agreed to develop the offshore fields of Bijupira and Salema in the Campos Basin. Enterprise will own a 55% interest in the venture, Odebrecht, 25%, and Petrobras, 20%. The fields lie in water depths between 450 and 800 meters, and are estimated to contain reserves of 150 million barrels. 4 Argentina Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has acquired a 100% working interest in the Al Sur de la Dorsal and Estacion Fernandez Oro properties in the Neuquen Basin. The company paid $40 million for rights in eight blocks covering 230,000 acres. The properties were acquired from Pan American Energy and Perez Companc. Current net daily production is approximately 2,000 bbl. of oil and 9 million cu. ft. of gas; net proved reserves are approximately 7.7 million bbl. of oil equivalent. 5 Equatorial Guinea Triton Energy Ltd., Dallas, says that its 2-Ceiba appraisal well has confirmed Ceiba Field as a significant oil discovery. The 2-Ceiba lies 22 miles offshore in Block G, and was drilled to a total depth of 8,744 ft. in 2,347 ft. of water. The new well, a mile southwest and 342 ft. downdip of the 1-Ceiba discovery well, encountered 300 net ft. of oil-bearing pay. Triton operates and has an 85% working interest in Blocks G and F; its 15% partner is South Africa-based Energy Africa Ltd. The companies plan to accelerate their appraisal and development program for the field. 6 Nigeria Exxon Mobil Corp. reports that it has confirmed a deepwater discovery in Oil Prospecting License 209. The Erha-2 appraisal well, drilled in 3,860 ft. of water to a total depth of 12,287 ft., tested oil at the rate of 2,800 bbl. per day. Exxon Mobil operates and holds a 56.25% participating interest in OPL 209, and Shell holds the remaining 43.75%. In separate activity, operator Shell says that it and its partners will invest $2.7 billion to develop deepwater Bonga Field, in OPL 212 offshore the Niger Delta. Bonga is expected to produce 200,000 bbl. of oil and 150 million cu. ft. of gas per day; its recoverable reserves are estimated at 600 million bbl. of oil. First production for Bonga is slated for 2003. Shell's partners in the venture are Exxon Mobil, Elf SpA, and Agip SpA. 7 Azerbaijan Dallas-based independent Puma Energy Inc. plans to develop the Balakhani, Sabunchi and Ramani oil fields. Puma has taken a farmout from the Interregional Public Assistance Fund for Petroleum Sector Stable Development, a Russian corporation, which grants to Puma all rights to negotiate the definitive agreement with Socar, the state oil company. Under the farmout, Puma will pay for 100% of all development and exploration costs to earn 80% of IPF's interest granted by Socar. 8 Bangladesh Unocal Corp. says that it has discovered a third major gas field in Bangladesh, this one the Moulavi Bazar accumulation on Block 14. The company drilled the Moulavi Bazar-2 to a total depth of 11,512 ft. and encountered 98 ft. of gas-bearing sands in two zones between 7,074 ft. and 7,225 ft. The well flowed gas at the rate of up to 30 million cu. ft. per day from the upper zone and 23 million cu. ft. per day from the lower zone. A delineation well, the MB-3, was directionally drilled to a total depth of 7,872 ft. and encountered about 101 ft. of gas-bearing sand over an interval of 216 ft. Unocal previously reported discoveries at Jalalabad Field, in Block 13, and Bibiyana Field, in Block 12. Jalalabad contains an estimated 1.6 trillion cu. ft. of gas in place; Bibiyana contains between 3- and 5 trillion cu. ft. of gas in place. 9 China Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Corp. has made a discovery on Block 04/36 in Bohai Bay. The company says that it is currently testing five zones and has logged more than 280 ft. of oil pay. The 4,789-ft. discovery well is in 80 ft. of water, on a large structure with more than 5,000 acres of closure. Preliminary sample data indicates the Guantao section contains 17- to 20-degree-gravity oil. Kerr-McGee operates Block 04/36 and holds an 81.8% interest; Pendaries Petroleum Ltd. holds the remaining 18.2%. 10 Thailand PTT Exploration & Production Co. says that its first well in Block 15A in the Gulf of Thailand tested 41 million cu. ft. of gas and 1,657 bbl. of condensate per day. The initial well on the Arthit project encountered 35 gas-bearing zones with combined net pay of 141 meters. PTT E&P has an 80% interest in the Arthit project, which lies in the area of Bongkot Field. Unocal Corp. and Mitsui Oil Exploration are joint venture partners with PTT E&P in the Arthit program. The companies plan to drill a total of seven exploration wells by mid-2000. 11 Indonesia Unocal Corp. says that it has made further discoveries in its Rapak Production Sharing Contract, in the deepwater Kutei Basin. The 9,752-ft. 2-Bangka, nine miles north of West Seno Field and drilled in 3,191 ft. of water, encountered 367 net ft. of gas pay in the Upper Miocene. A confirmation well, the 4-Bangka, was drilled down structure to a total depth of 11,656 ft. That test encountered 38 ft. of net oil and gas pay. The 5-Bangka, 3.5 miles northwest of the 2-Bangka, is currently drilling. At a separate prospect, the 3-Aton, five miles southeast of the 2-Bangka, was drilled to a depth of 8,465 ft. in 3,826 ft. of water. That well cut 80 ft. of oil and gas pay. A confirmation well, the 1-Aton, was drilled to a depth of 12,465 ft. and found 59 ft. of net oil and gas pay in two zones. Unocal owns a 60% working interest in the Rapak license, Exxon Mobil owns 30%, and Lasmo owns 10%. 12 Australia Houston independent Apache Corp. tested heavy oil at the rate of 1,595 bbl. per day from the 1-Nasutus, in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Northwest Australia. The test was run between 2,195 and 2,208 ft. in the Flacourt sandstones at the top of the Barrow Group. The discovery, in Exploration Permit EP409, lies about 12 miles east of Apache facilities at Airlie Island. Apache operates and owns a 50% working interest in the discovery, and OMV also owns 50%. 13 New Zealand Swift Energy Co., a Houston-based independent, reports that it tested oil and gas at rates of 1,524 bbl. and 4.8 million cu. ft. per day from its Rimu-A1 well in the onshore Taranaki Basin. The test was through perforations at depths from 11,831 to 11,962 ft. in the Tariki sandstone. Swift operates the well and holds a 90% interest in the 100,652-acre permit. Calgary-based Antrim Energy Inc. and Brisbane-based Bligh Oil & Minerals Ltd. each hold 5%.