CAPITAL: Amsterdam

MONETARY UNIT: Guilder

REFINING CAPACITY: 1,187,842 b/cd

OIL PRODUCTION: 56,500 b/d

OIL RESERVES: 126 million bbl

GAS RESERVES: 63 tcf

The Dutch offshore operators association, Nogepa, warned the government that oil companies would be deterred from exploring in the Netherlands by proposed legislation changing the criteria under which oil and gas production licenses are granted.

The group said its main concern was that one change would enable the government to force an oil company to develop a field irrespective of its economic conditions.

In 1998 offshore activity, Clyde Petroleum Exploratie BV, reported the Q4-8 exploration well in the Dutch North Sea on test flowed 27 MMcfd of gas. Production was planned by year-end 1999.

Partners in Q-4 Block were Gulf Canada 49.75% (owner of Clyde Petroleum), Dyas BV 17.25%, and Clam Petroleum BV 33%. The state had an option to acquire a 40% interest through Energie Beheer Nederland BV.

Elf Petroland BV, the Dutch oil and gas subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine SA, found two gas fields in the Dutch North Sea.

Elf said one field had a daily production capacity of 1.3 million cu m. The gas was sold to Nederlandse Gasunie NV. The other field had an even higher production capacity.

Elf Petroland had a 17.4% interest in the leases. Energie Beheer Nederland BV, which represented the Dutch government, had 50%; Dyas BV 11.6%, Talisman Energy Ltd 10.3%; and Total Oil and Gas Nederland BV 8.7%.

Processing activity

ARCO Chemie Nederland Ltd. planned to build a petrochemical plant at Maasvlakteands by late 2000.

The plant would have capacity of 625 million lb/year of propylene oxide and 1.4 billion lb/year of styrene monomer.

Shell Nederland Chemie BV began a $145 million expansion of an ethylene cracker at its Moerdijk plant.

Plant capacity would increase to 900,000 metric tons/year from 650,000 tons/year, with work slated for completion in mid-2000.

Dow Europe SA bought Shell Chemicals Ltd.`s plant at Pernis that produced emulsion styrene butadiene rubber. Shell Chemicals sold its Pernis polyvinyl chloride plant at Pernis to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd., Tokyo.

Dow Chemical Co. and Amoco Chemical Europe SA formed an equity venture to expand ethylene capacity to 1.7 million metric tons/year from 1.1 million tons/year at Dow`s Terneuzen facility. Dow would own 80% and Amoco 20% in the venture, which consisted primarily of olefin units at the complex.

The expansion consisted of revamping the crackers and constructing related facilities. The plant would come on stream in 2000.

Koch Industries Inc., Wichita, bought a condensate splitter from Goldman Sachs Group LP. The Rotterdam plant processed 70,000 b/d of condensate and light crude oils to produce jet fuel, gas oil, naphtha, and residual fuel.

DSM Polyolefins GmbH was revamping an ethylene cracker at the Geleen complex near Maastricht. It would increase ethylene capacity to 1.2 million tons/year, with the revamped unit expected on line in 2000.