Repair of the second rupture on TransCanada Pipeline Ltd.’s Nova system is progressing and the company said it expects that the section will be ready “sometime Thursday” for commercial operation, barring any unforeseen delays.

“Construction progress at site #2 went well over the weekend,” the company said on its web site. Once the repairs for site #2 are completed, the line readied for service and the flow re-established through the restricted area, the FT/IT restriction in segments 1, 2, 26, 27 and partial 5 and the IT restriction in segments 3 & 4 will be restored.

Last week, two line breaks in a remote section of the Nova system shut down the 36-inch pipeline and its 800 MMcf/d of throughput, impacting a number of customers. While some producers shut in gas, others turned to alternative shipping channels such as the Alliance Pipeline.

There were no reports of injuries in the resulting fires (see Daily GPI, Dec. 3). The first break at 5:45 p.m. MST last Monday occurred about 30 km southwest of the community of Little Smokey. The second blast came at 7 a.m. MST last Tuesday approximately 20 km southwest of the communities of Valleyview and the Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

TransCanada PipeLines’ preliminary investigations have indicated external corrosion was the likely cause of the two ruptures (see Daily GPI, Dec. 5).

The first break was repaired Friday night and is allowing firm transportation. However, interruptible service is still restricted. The following stations were returned to service Friday night:

Once site #2 is complete, TransCanada will return the Ante Creek South and Waskahigan East stations to service.

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