Offshore

NGPL said it is completing all work on the offshore Texas HighIsland Block 71 Lateral and the line will become available for serviceagain today. A leak was discovered Aug. 16 and about 50 MMcf/d ofproduction from three receipt points was scheduled to zero effectiveAug. 18 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 23). NGPLwill begin scheduling gas for the High Island 71 (Torch) and HighIsland 116 (Vasgas) wells today. However, the High Island 139 (Sonat)well has been disconnected and is under evaluation at this time, sountil further notice the pipeline will not schedule gas there.

Pacific Gas & Electric issued a customer-specificlow-inventory OFO that takes effect today.

NGPL said it has not yet completed repairs of a leak discoveredlast week on its offshore High Island Block 71 Lateral. Productionfrom three points (High Island 71, High Island 139 and High Island116) has been scheduled to zero since Friday.

The Williams Companies Inc. made clear its plans to be a seriouscontender in the Canadian midstream market with an announcementlast week that it has reached an agreement to buy most ofTransCanada PipeLines Ltd.’s remaining ownership interests innatural gas liquids (NGL) and extraction facilities and oneprocessing plant, as well as a one-third interest in a keyAlberta-to-U.S. gas liquids pipeline from Dow Chemical Co.

Sonat was unable to begin repairs Thursday as anticipated (seeDaily GPI, July 27) on a July 5 rupturein its offshore 14-inch Romere Pass Line. However, the work likelywill begin today and last 10-15 calendar days, which means the lineshould be back in service around Aug. 12 at the latest, a spokeswomansaid. An estimated 50-100 MMcf/d at five platform receipt points isbeing shut in by the outage.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the 14-inch Romere Pass Line offshore southeastern Louisiana (see Daily GPI, July 7; July 18) could be back in service on or around Aug. 11, Sonat said Friday. The line ruptured July 5, causing the shut-in of up to 100 MMcf/d at five receipt points. A repair plan has been completed and submitted to regulatory authorities for approval, the pipeline said. It expects that the approvals could be completed in time for work to begin on or about Thursday of this week. July 27. The estimated repair time is 10-15 calendar days.

Houston’s Apache Corp. remains in an acquiring mood, agreeinglast week to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s offshore oil and gasinterests in the Gulf of Mexico for $385 million. The deal callsfor Apache to pay Occidental $341 million for the properties thisyear, then pay $11 million a year for the next four years. Closingis expected by mid-August.

Houston’s Apache Corp. remains in an acquiring mood, agreeing yesterday to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s offshore oil and gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico for $385 million. The deal calls for Apache to pay Occidental $341 million for the properties this year, then pay $11 million a year for the next four years. Closing is expected by mid-August.

Tennessee confirmed a reported leak on its 26-inch 507K-100 Linein the West Cameron 177 area offshore southwestern Louisiana. Theimpact on area gas has not been determined yet, Tennessee said, butproduction from West Cameron 192 to onshore Grand Chenier could beaffected. A pipeline spokesman said Monday afternoon he understoodthat repairs might have been completed already, but he was unableto reach field personnel for confirmation.