• Amerada Hess Corp., New York, has acquired the El Gassi, El Agreb and Zotti fields from the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, for $55 million and will form a joint operating company to operate and rehabilitate the fields. The new company will be called Sonahess, with the production initially being split 51% Sonatrach, 49% Amerada Hess. Amerada Hess will invest approximately $500 million during the next five years to enhance recovery from the fields. The El Gassi, El Agreb and Zotti fields are 60 miles southwest of the Hassi Messaoud Field in central Algeria and currently are producing 30,000 bbl. of oil, gross, per day. Total remaining reserves are believed to be in excess of 300 million bbl. of oil. • Vanco Energy Co., Houston, through its subsidiary Vanco International Ltd., has signed a production sharing contract with the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for the Corisco Deep Block. The Corisco Deep Block award follows in the wake of Triton Energy Ltd.'s recent Ceiba discovery where two wells drilled since October 1999 have booked significant reserves. • Exxon Azerbaijan Operating Co. LLC, Irving, Texas, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. reports that the agreement on exploration, development and production sharing for the Zafar-Mashal offshore exploration block in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea has been ratified by the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic. According to the Agreement, Socar has a 50% interest, Exxon E&P Caspian Sea Ltd. holds a 30% interest, and Conoco, 20%. Exxon Azerbaijan will serve as operator. • Mallon Resources Corp., Denver, has been awarded a concession to explore for oil and gas on approximately 2.3 million acres in the northeast quadrant of Costa Rica. The concession acreage is in six large contiguous onshore acreage blocks. Mallon must complete an environmental assessment of its proposed operations within the next four months, and expects to sign final contracts thereafter.