Preliminary plans to restart partial service at the Opal, WY, natural gas processing facility are underway by Williams Partners LP.

An explosion last Wednesday triggered a fire that led to a precautionary, overnight evacuation of the nearby town of Opal (see Daily GPI, April 25; April 24).

The facility, which processes up to 1.5 Bcf/d, was shut down last Wednesday following an explosion that damaged the biggest of five processing units, TXP-3, able to handle up to 390 MMcf/d. At the time of the incident, Opal was processing around 1.1 Bcf/d.

The capacity of the four undamaged plants is sufficient to handle the gas available at the site now, the operator said. Trains No. 4 and 5 each handle up to 350 MMcf/d, while train No. 1 processes 245 MMcf/d and No. 2 handles 150 MMcf/d.

Williams said it was unable to predict how long it would take to repair the No. 3 unit.

A visual inspection has been completed at the 160-acre facility, which serves as the processing and principal pricing hub for gas produced in western Wyoming and the San Juan Basin in Utah. The gas has been rerouted to the nearby Pioneer Processing Plant in Sublette County, WY, which is able to process about 1 Bcf/d.