Less than two weeks after the deadly explosion on El PasoNatural Gas’ system in southeastern New Mexico, the pipeline lastweek had more than 700 MMcf/d of its 1.1 Bcf/d capacity restored toits South Mainline that services markets between Texas andCalifornia.

At mid-day Friday, El Paso said it began running about 260MMcf/d through Line 1100 after it received the go-ahead from thefederal Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), according to spokeswomanKim Wallace. El Paso was able to re-start partial service on the26-inch line after it built a 16-inch temporary connector linebetween Line 1110 and Line 1100, which was approved by OPS.

The temporary connector was installed just east of the PecosRiver explosion site, about 30 miles from Carlsbad, NM. Wallacesaid Line 1100 would carry the gas from Eunice, NM, just Northeastof the Pecos River Compressor Station, to the connector with Line1110, which then would transport it westward across the Pecos RiverBridge where it would meet up with Line 1100 further downstream.Meanwhile, Wallace said El Paso submitted to OPS last week the testresults and a preliminary return-to-service plan for Line 1100.

Three days prior, the OPS had given El Paso permission torestore service to Line 1110 from the Keystone Station through thePecos River Compressor Station at a reduced level. The pipelinere-opened the line at about 400 MMcf/d, and gradually increased itto 480 MMcf/d by Friday. This is “still within the limits it [OPS]set” for Line 1110, Wallace said.

The OPS restricted El Paso’s Line 1110 to 80% of the operatingpressure of Line 1103 at the time it ruptured, according toDepartment of Transportation spokeswoman Debbie Hinz. She said thisput the line at a pressure of about 538 pounds per square inch.

The OPS-ordered shutdown of Line 1110 lasted 10 days, duringwhich the agency ordered El Paso to conduct extensive hydrostatic,ultrasound and X-ray tests to determine its safety, and to submit aplan for restoring service to the line.

As for the future of ruptured Line 1103, Wallace said repairs onit would not begin until after the investigation of the explosionis completed, which will “probably be nine to 12 months.”

The restoration of service couldn’t come soon enough for El Pasocustomers who have been scrambling for transportation capacity eversince federal investigators and regulators closed down the threelines that make up El Paso’s South Main leg in the wake of theblast that killed 11 people and critically injured one. Californiacustomers have been taking gas out of storage to meet their needsduring the service interruption. The Department of Energy has setup a task force to evaluate the effects of the explosion andshutdown on the gas market.

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