Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line said over the next few weeks it expects to bring back about 145 MMcf/d of offshore supply that has been shut in since last year’s hurricanes. That would leave only about 30 MMcf/d of shut-in production upstream of the Transco system by the end of April, the Williams subsidiary said.

“Much of the production impacted by the 2005 hurricane season has returned to normal levels, though there are still production facilities that are shut-in pending completion of repairs on the offshore Transco pipeline,” the company said in a notice to customers on Friday. “Additionally, some production facilities still have damage unrelated to their interconnection with the Transco system. Transco currently has approximately 175 MMcf/d of production shut-in as a result of Hurricane Rita. Approximately 100 MMcf/d of the impacted production is on the Southeast Louisiana Lateral, with the remainder on the West Cameron lateral.”

The company said it expects to have about 60 MMcf/d back online in the Ship Shoal 269 area in the next week, pending good weather, which has been hard to come by lately. Repairs there will relieve constraints at eight meters. Within another two weeks, Transco expects to complete repairs on its West Cameron lateral, allowing another 75 MMcf/d to flow. And in April, repairs should be made in the Ship Shoal 169 area, where meter 2269 will be replaced.

In May, repairs are expected to be completed at Ship Shoal Block 322 on Transco (20 MMcf/d), and by October, the South Marsh Island area is expected to be back up to speed (10 MMcf/d). Other minor repairs also still must take place on Transco’s Southeast Louisiana Lateral. Inclement weather also has hindered repairs on Southern Natural, but the El Paso Corp. subsidiary also said Friday that based on the latest information it anticipates in-service dates of April 10 for the 20-inch South Pass 62 “B” to Main Pass 298 “B” line and April 15 for the 14-inch Main Pass 153 to South Pass 62 “B” line. Restoration of the 12-inch line at West Delta 133 is dependent on producer repairs, Southern said. Repairs are continuing on compressor units at the Toca (LA) Compressor Station, and due to changes in the scope of work, Southern now expects to complete those repairs around June 1. Repairs to the Olga Compressor Station, southeast of New Orleans, have not been made.

As of last Wednesday, the Minerals Management Service reported that 1,392.77 MMcf/d of gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was still shut in. A total of 87 platforms were still evacuated and 343,172 bbl/d of crude oil production was still shut in. Cumulative production shut-ins since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita stand at 692.299 Bcf of gas and 139.4 million bbl of crude oil.

©Copyright 2006Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.