Offshore

Citing logistics setbacks, Northern Natural Gas (NNG) said Sunday it is now anticipating return to service of platforms downstream of the Matagorda 758 platform on the Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System (MOPS) sometime during Wednesday’s gas day. NNG, the operator of MOPS, said this schedule is contingent on any other weather or logistics issues. Upon closure of the subsea valve at Matagorda 758, there will be three upstream platforms that must remain shut in until all repairs are completed, NNG said. Prior to the weekend it had anticipated the possible restoration of some service in the leak-affected segment of MOPS by the start of Tuesday’s gas day (see Daily GPI, March 6).

A force majeure was declared Wednesday on the Matagorda Offshore Pipeline System (MOPS) after MOPS operator Northern Natural Gas detected a leak upstream of the Matagorda 686 platform. Crews were en route to investigate and make repairs as necessary, NNG said. Thirteen receipt point meters have been allocated to zero until repairs are completed.

With nearly 18 Bcf/d of new LNG import capacity approved for development along the Gulf Coasts of Texas and Louisiana and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, Transcontinental Gas PipeLine has drawn up plans for a mainline expansion project between compressor stations 45 and 85 in Louisiana. It also is planning to expand its system by about 700,000 Dth/d from Station 85 to a connection with affiliate Gulfstream Natural Gas along its Mobile Bay Lateral.

Gulf South said Thursday morning it has verified that six more locations are operational on its offshore Eugene Island Burns System and it would try to confirm nominations at them during the next cycle. The pipeline previously had verified only Eugene Island Block 44 as operational on the system (see Daily GPI, Jan. 20). Force majeure conditions are keeping eight other Burns facilities offline.

Sea Robin issued an OFO, effective at the start of Wednesday’s gas day, for all offshore receipt points. As previously posted, Sea Robin said, it has been notified by the third-party operator of the onshore processing plant on its system that onshore dehydration and processing is not available until damage suffered as a result of Hurricane Rita is repaired. “As a result of imbalances that currently exist, as well as those that continue to build…, pipeline pressures have increased to extreme levels” that required the OFO, Sea Robin said. The OFO will remain in effect until high-pressure conditions return to a normal operating range, it added.

While proponents of expanded offshore drilling were disappointed that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee did not take up the issue in its budget reconciliation package last Wednesday, Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) said he would continue to press President Bush to exercise his power to open up a portion of the gas-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico to production activity.

While a California congressman, backed by manufacturers across the country, is leading the charge to lift restrictions on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, a report to the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) oversight board points out that natural gas prices in the West have been relatively unaffected by the recent hurricanes and have been significantly lower than the rest of the country.

Texas Eastern said an inspection of its Cameron system offshore southwest Louisiana has determined that production from 37 meters (see bulletin board for list) can begin flows at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday. The pipeline will accept nominations for supply sourced from the posted meters once the meter operator has contacted its Texas Eastern operations account manager to report the status of production. Meters on the Cameron system that are not listed should remain shut in as further investigations continue, Texas Eastern said.

Saying a Btu limitation is no longer in effect on the offshore portion of its system, Destin Pipeline began accepting Cycle 3 nominations for Thursday’s gas day from all receipt points. But due to constraints, Destin said it will allocate capacity in accordance with tariff procedures.