Natural gas production shut in by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico continued to slowly inch back on Friday, at the same time new damage reports pinpointed El Paso Energy’s Southern Natural Gas and Tennessee Natural Gas as the source of the majority of the lost volumes.

The Minerals Management Service reported shut-in gas production dropped from 4.02 Bcf/d Thursday to 3.829 Bcf/d Friday. That was down from initial Katrina shut-ins nearly two weeks ago of 8.3 Bcf/d. The totals are based on reports from 56 oil and gas producers operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

The shut-in gas production is equivalent to 38.29% of the daily gas output in the Gulf, which is about 10 Bcf/d. The cumulative shut-in gas production from Aug. 26 to Friday is 80.411 Bcf, equivalent to 2.203% of the yearly production of 3.65 Tcf in the Gulf.

El Paso has said it has about 1,250 MMcf/d of production shut in upstream of multiple damaged facilities. However, unofficial numbers from Bentek Energy, which tracks production receipts on the Gulf pipeline systems, show shut-ins upstream of Tennessee Gas and Southern Natural at more than 2 Bcf/d, or more than half the current Gulf of Mexico total. El Paso’s pipelines had the only confirmed significant Gulf pipeline damage as of Friday.

Enbridge’s Mississippi Canyon system, initially thought to have been damaged, was found to be intact and operational by divers earlier in the week. However, Mississippi Canyon as well as several other offshore systems are still being shut in because of the damaged mainlines and three key processing plants: Yscloskey, Venice, and Toca.

Southern Natural field personnel on Thursday discovered damage to a junction platform at Main Pass 298, which probably will affect gas production receipts from at least 15 receipt meters east of the platform, including points operated by Chevron, Ocean Energy, Shell, BP, Pogo and other producers. “Further investigation will be required to determine the extent and the impact of this damage,” the pipeline told shippers in a bulletin board notice. “Other points west of the platform also could be impacted depending on the severity of the damage. We will post a list of those points if it is determined that other receipt points would be affected,” Southern said.

This area is the same general area that took months to repair after being damaged by Hurricane Ivan. The area also represents a portion of the overall area affected upstream of Southern’s Toca Compressor Station. The entire area remains under a force majeure while the company examines the integrity of its facilities following Hurricane Katrina. Southern said the affected receipt points were flowing about 550,000 Mcf/d into the pipeline prior to the hurricane. Data on gas production nominations into Southern on Friday, however, show shut-ins at 864 MMcf/d, according to Denver-based Bentek Energy, which picks up data several times a day in sweeps of pipeline electronic bulletin boards.

Southern said flood waters have receded at Toca and an investigation of the facilities began on Friday. All of Southern’s offshore facilities have had an initial damage assessment by personnel in helicopters. Southern said the most serious damage so far offshore appears to be to risers on producers’ facilities that have been destroyed (West Delta 133, Main Pass 306, South Pass 62) and to measurement equipment at some locations.

“Complete damage assessments will require on-site investigation, which has not yet been feasible. Initial surveys of our sub-sea facilities (primarily pipelines) have been hampered by poor weather conditions,” the company said. “Those surveys, which will be conducted by boat, are underway in some areas and will begin in other areas [on Friday] weather permitting. Based on the very limited information that we have currently, we are not yet aware of any significant damage to our offshore pipelines. However, the assessment of our offshore pipelines is in its early stages.”

El Paso has outfitted a mobile barge, 38-feet-wide and 140-feet-long, for helicopter refueling offshore and also to provide assessment and diving crews with the equipment they need. It also has first aid supplies and oil spill equipment for emergencies. Work on the helicopter-accessible barge, designed to do the job of onshore helioports which were destroyed, was expected to be completed Thursday.

Southern’s sister pipeline company, Tennessee Gas, may be in even worse shape, with at least 230 production receipt points shut in upstream of several damaged facilities in various locations offshore Louisiana.

Tennessee has found leaks on its 26-inch and 36-inch diameter pipelines that make up the East Leg of the Blue Water pipeline system. A portion of the line has been isolated between Ship Shoal 157 and 144, which is offshore Houma, LA. The company has divers out inspecting the line and assessing the damage. In the meantime, some of the production on the East Leg is being rerouted West across the rest of the system to the West Leg of Blue Water.

El Paso’s spokesman Richard Wheatley also said the Port Sulphur Compressor station, which is about 40 miles south of New Orleans, remains submerged along with everything else in the area. In fact it is unclear how much the water will recede along the Venice peninsula. Wheatley said the water has receded to some degree, but El Paso has been unable to get in there and assess the damage. As a result 500 Leg Mainline Valve 528 remains shut in.

Another area damaged on Tennessee is the South Timbalier area, also offshore Houma, LA. Multiple leaks have been found on various laterals including the following lines: 524J-100, 524J-600, and 524J-800. Tennessee also has confirmed leaks on the 524C-100 line and the 524C-600 line. It has sent survey boats inspecting the West Delta, South Pass, and Main Pass areas. The company said it would provide updates as soon as possible, but Wheatley said at this point there is no telling how long it will take to repair the pipeline system.

Tennessee said shut-in production on its system on Friday totaled 700 MMcf/d, but Bentek Energy reported that 1,164 MMcf/d of gas production that was scheduled to flow on Tennessee on Aug. 26 was not scheduled to flow as of Friday Sept. 9.

Wheatley denied rumors that Tennessee’s 500 Leg would be out of service for the entire winter. “We have not said that, and it is simply not true.” Nevertheless, the bulk of the gas that was flowing on the 500 leg prior to Katrina currently is shut in behind damaged facilities that may take weeks or even months to repair.

Southern Natural and Tennessee represent the two largest portions of shut in production, 52% of the total, according to Bentek on Friday. Bentek tallied total shut ins onshore (668 MMcf/d) and offshore (3,190 MMcf/d) at 3,889 MMcf/d on Friday. That compares to the Minerals Management Service estimate Friday of 3,829 MMcf/d of offshore production shut ins.

Shut-ins upstream of the various Gulf Coast and offshore Gulf of Mexico pipelines were reported by Bentek as follows: Southern (864 MMcf/d), Tennessee (1,164), Transco (319), Destin (676), Sea Robin (0 shut ins and 7 MMcf/d more than was flowing on Aug. 26), Florida Gas (0 shut ins and 109 MMcf/d more than on Aug. 26), Trunkline (190 MMcf/d of shut ins), Texas Eastern (323 MMcf/d), Mississippi Canyon (511), Columbia Gulf (no shut ins and 8 MMcf/d more production flowing than on Aug. 26), Garden Banks (7 MMcf/d shut in), Gulf South (63), High Island (23), Texas Gas (3 MMcf/d more gas than on Aug. 26), Stingray (290), Nautilus (18), Chandeleur (121), Sabine (6 MMcf/d more gas scheduled than on Aug. 26), and Gulfstream (33 MMcf/d).

Shut-in oil production totaled 898,161 bbl/d, down from 901,726 bbl/d reported on Thursday, MMS said. The shut-in output is equivalent to 59.88% of daily Gulf production, currently 1.5 million bbl/d. The cumulative shut-in oil production from Aug. 26 to Friday was 16.224 million bbl, which is equivalent to 2.963% of the yearly production of 547.5 million bbl.

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