BECHTEL COMPLETES SEA LINES FOR OCCIDENTAL'S LIBYAN OIL

Completion of a number of new projects by Arabian Bechtel Corp. has increased Occidental Oil Co.'s production capacity, storage and handling facilities from the Idris D and 'Augila fields to the 1 million bbl/day mark. The latest project was the installation of two 48 in. and three 42 in. undersea pipelines having 0.75 and 0.5 in. thicknesses, respectively from the Zueitina Marine Terminal to tanker mooring buoys located more than 3 mi offshore. All pipe was spiral, API 5LS grade B material. The joints were welded into 1500 ft sections, wrapped, coated with concrete to give a negative buoyancy of 15 lb/ft empty, and pulled offshore. A rubber tired shoe system was used to maintain tension, and a laser and target assured exact alignment. The pipelines were buried through the surf to a point where the water depth reached 16.5 ft. A 72 in. pipeline will carry the crude from the trunkline to a 560,000 bbl storage tank or from the tank to the sea lines. Occidental's latest Libyan project is for a plant to recover 69,000 bbl/day of natural gasoline and LPG from gas produced in association with oil at the Idris field. The total cost of this project and a 135 mi 20 in. products pipeline which will parallel the existing crude oil line will be $60 million.