Occidental and Arco joined a North Sea project.

To be managed by Conoco, the joint venture of five companies will develop three natural gas fields that are expected to supply 5% of Britain’s natural gas by the early 1990s. The gas will be sold to British Gas Corp. beginning in October, 1988. A pipeline and seven drilling platforms will be erected in the fields about 70 miles offshore. British subsidiaries of Occidental Petroleum and Atlantic Richfield, both based in Los Angeles, as well as Marathon Petroleum and Britoil PLC will join Du Pont’s Conoco subsidiary in the venture, which is valued at about $923 million.