Enbridge Inc. is investigating the report of a small natural gas leak in West Cameron Block 275, 66 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the Calgary-based company said late Tuesday.

During a helicopter flyover a three-foot diameter patch of bubbles was spotted near the company’s Stingray gas pipeline. The 36-inch diameter pipeline was operating normally, Enbridge said, adding that it had notified regulators of the potential leak.

“A dive boat has been dispatched to the location, and we will commence an investigative dive as soon as weather conditions permit,” said Terrance L. McGill, Enbridge senior vice president of natural gas operations.

“At this time Stingray is unable to perform a direct inspection of the pipe due to weather conditions,” the pipeline said on its bulletin board. “Based on current weather forecasts, Stingray expects to perform a thorough inspection later this week. Stingray continues to operate within normal operating parameters and will post further information as it becomes available.”

The 325-mile Stingray has capacity of 560 MMcf/d. In November a possible leak was reported on the system in the area of Vermilion 263 offshore southwest Louisiana (see Daily GPI, Nov. 28, 2011). A related force majeure remained in effect last month as weather delayed repairs (see Daily GPI, Dec. 12, 2011). The Vermilion 263 issue was on a lateral upstream of the site of the current area of concern, an Enbridge spokeswoman said.

©Copyright 2012Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.