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Southern Natural Gas has restored service on all facilities that were forced to shut down because of damage last September from Hurricane Ivan. Over the course of Monday and Tuesday it announced the completion of repairs to the 12-inch Main Pass 144 lateral, the 18-inch Main Pass 306 lateral and the 24-inch Main Pass 289-298 line. It released the following receipt points from a force majeure and approved them for flow: Main Pass 133 C, Main Pass 123-Pogo, Main Pass 144 Chevron, Main Pass 306, Main Pass 288 Conoco, Main Pass 289-Main Pass 290 Shell and Main Pass 289 VKGC. An affiliated pipeline, Tennessee, still has about 14 MMcf/d in Ivan-related outages at two meters in the South Pass area, an El Paso Corp. spokesman said. Those meters are expected to be back online by the end of September.

While hot weather and hurricane-related shut-ins had the energy industry looking for a small natural gas injection in the neighborhood of 52 Bcf, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that 59 Bcf was actually put into underground stocks for the week ended July 15.

With Hurricane Emily looking like less and less of a threat for long-term Gulf of Mexico shut-ins, August natural gas futures traded within a thin 12-cent range Tuesday before settling at $7.586, down 6.6 cents on the day. While logging its second consecutive down session, the prompt month was unable to get below $7.50, which is acting as a support level.

Swift Energy Co. warned investors Friday that its first quarter production will be lower than expected because of the shut down of a third-party gas pipeline downstream of its Lake Washington Field. The damaged pipeline has forced Swift to reduce production to minimize flaring of gas production that would normally be transported through the pipeline. The pipeline operator expects to fix the line by March 30. As a result of the reduced production levels, Swift is lowering its previous guidance for domestic production in the first quarter of 2005 to 10.8-11.0 Bcfe from 11-11.5 Bcfe. Net production in Lake Washington for the fourth quarter of 2004 almost doubled compared to the same period in 2003, averaging 12,900 net boe/d compared to 6,900 net boe/d for the same period in 2003. The field produced about 23.2 Bcfe last year, more than double the 2003 volumes. It is Swift’s largest field. Swift’s total domestic production for 2004 increasing to 42.1 Bcfe or by 25% compared to 2003.

Swift Energy Co. warned investors Friday that its first quarter production will be lower than expected because of the shut down of a third-party gas pipeline downstream of its Lake Washington Field. The damaged pipeline has forced Swift to reduce production to minimize flaring of gas production that would normally be transported through the pipeline.

Southern Natural said it was notified that the Enterprise Processing Plant is being shut down. Southern also is shutting down its Toca Compressor Station and has declared a force majeure. Pressures declined to the point that Southern essentially has no gas flow through the Toca facility. Southern is requesting that all shippers/poolers verify that their supply is flowing and nominate their demand to match their anticipated supply. Southern is not accepting any nominations for interruptible services that rely on storage (ISS and Park withdrawals) and will not be accepting any makeup due shipper.

Houston-based independent Pioneer Natural Resources Co. on Tuesday reduced its third quarter production forecast after shutting in production from its Harrier field in the Falcon Corridor of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico following early water encroachment. A sidetrack well is expected to spud in mid-September to access an adjacent fault block in the field, and Pioneer said it could be producing by the end of October.

Houston-based independent Pioneer Natural Resources Co. on Tuesday reduced its third quarter production forecast after shutting in production from its Harrier field in the Falcon Corridor of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico following early water encroachment. A sidetrack well is expected to spud in mid-September to access an adjacent fault block in the field, and Pioneer said it could be producing by the end of October.

A natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation plant operated by Enterprise Products Partners LP and an oil products terminal operated by El Paso Corp., which are both located in Geismar, LA, were ordered closed July 1 by the U.S. Coast Guard until they comply with new maritime security codes that took effect this month.