El Paso subsidiary Southern Natural Gas told shippers on Monday that it probably will take four to six months to fix the seriously damaged pipelines and platforms east of Main Pass 298 offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Service on other portions of its system, including the South Pass 60 Line and the Mississippi Canyon 194 Line, should be restored much sooner.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) said on Friday that although about 1 Bcf/d of the 1.8 Bcf/d of gas production currently shut in could return to service by the end of October, it may take much longer to restore the remaining 800 MMcf/d portion.

Prior to Ivan, Southern was receiving about 800-850 MMcf/d from 70 points upstream of the Toca Compressor Station in Southern Louisiana. To date, field personnel have verified the integrity of the facilities associated with receipts from 43 of those points. The 43 points had been flowing 500 MMcf/d prior to Ivan, but currently they are flowing about 369 MMcf/d. Meanwhile, the 27 other points, representing about 350 MMcf/d, remain shut in.

A definitive date for completion of all repairs will depend on a number of factors, including finalizing the damage assessment and repair plans, the availability of marine contractors, materials, and equipment, and weather conditions, Southern said in an update on Monday.

Based on the best information currently available, Southern expects the South Pass 60 Line be back in service in about two months, or near the first week in December. Mississippi Canyon Line 194 is expected to be back in service some time this week. However, service dates are uncertain for all lines east of Main Pass 298.

“We have not yet been able to complete our damage assessment [east of Main Pass 298], but we have been able to determine that the damage in this area was extensive,” Southern said. “Our Main Pass 293 pipeline junction platform was completely destroyed and we have not yet been able to locate the incoming Main Pass 289 Line or outgoing Main Pass 293 Line, which we believe may have been moved a significant distance to the south by the storm. The Main Pass 289 Line also appears to have been moved significantly over about half the length of the pipeline. The Main Pass 306 Line was also tied into this platform.

“Until we locate and examine these lines, we have no way of knowing how much of them will have to be completely replaced. Based on what we have been able to learn to date, our best case scenario is to have this part of our system back in service in approximately four to six months, which would make the earliest date that is even a realistic possibility at the current time some time around the first of February.”

The pipeline company also said that it is not certain when repairs can be made to the Main Pass 311 and 301 Lines because damage assessments are still being conducted.

“Repairs [to any of these facilities] could take longer if additional damage is discovered or we are unable to obtain vessels or materials when we anticipate or if we encounter bad weather conditions,” Southern added. The company said it will continue providing regular updates each Monday at 10 a.m. CDT.

In an updated Gulf-wide damage assessment released last Friday, the MMS said 150 platforms and 10,000 miles of pipelines were in the direct path of Ivan. Pipeline damage, rather than platform damage, is responsible for most of the production curtailments. Tennessee Gas and Southern Natural, two El Paso Corp. interstate pipeline systems, experienced the worst gas pipeline damage from the storm. A total of 12 larger diameter pipelines (10-inch diameter lines or greater) were damaged because of Ivan, MMS said.

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