US Gulf gas output bottled up as processing plants make repairs

Washington (Platts)--10Oct2005

Nearly two-thirds of the Gulf of Mexico's natural gas production remained
shut-in Monday as sodden gas processing plants ashore struggled to clean-up
and return to operation.
     Because of the Columbus Day holiday, the US Mineral's Management Service
did not publish its daily estimate of shut-in production based on producer's
reports, but data on pipeline flow nominations compiled by Denver-based
natural gas consulting firm Bentek indicated that 6.42 Bcf/d of production
remained shut-in in the Gulf.
     Bentek's data also showed that nearly all of Texas' pre-storm production
had returned to service, while 6.3 Bcf/d of Louisiana's Gulf Coast production
was still shut-in.
     The Dept of Energy Friday said 20 gas processing plants with 13.1
Bcf/d of capacity were idled in Texas and Louisiana due to flooding damage
or lack of power. No processing operators reported any change in their status
Monday, although several of the super majors have been tight-lipped about the
operations of their gas processing plants.
     Interior Secretary Gale Norton last week told reporters that she
suspected gas processing would become the bottleneck shutting-in offshore
production and Monday one operator gave Platts a sketch of how rising
waters turned a plant into a muddy, snake-infested mass of dead switches and
pumps.
     Columbia Gulf Transmission, which operates a 4,200-mile transmission
pipeline carrying gas from offshore to Kentucky, said its Pecan Island
compressor and separation station in Vermilion Parish was struck by eight feet
of water as the Hurricane Rita pushed waves over low-lying barrier islands and
up the Louisiana marsh.
     "The pipe infrastructure came through but the perimeter fence was washed
away," Columbia Gulf Communications Manager Kelly Merritt said. "The
compressor is elevated 12 feet above the ground and it suffered some wind
damage, some bent metal."
     "The office, the storage sheds, a lot of electrical controls--anything on
the ground was ruined," Merritt said. Adding to Columbia Gulf's woes was the
fact that the storm surge was highly corrosive salt water, he explained.
     Merritt said his company has had crews of 50 to 60 workers, contractors
and company staff, laboring at the station since the day after Rita left, most
cleaning up. 
     "There was 18-inches of mud on the ground. I never realized how thick and
limiting mud was," Merritt said. "There was eight miles worth of marsh grass
piled up on the fence. The first day, five contractors quit [because of]
snakes."
     Merritt said Columbia Gulf is striving to get the plant minimally
operational as quickly as it can, even manually operating the automatic plant,
but wasn't couldn't say how much longer Columbia's crews would have to labor
after two full weeks of effort.
     "It's a beehive of activity. We've ordered replacement parts and think
that'll be quick. We want to get it up and operational without all the bells
and whistles," Merritt explained.
     Merritt said the bulk of those laboring at Pecan Island lost their homes
in Rita. "The employees' homes have washed away. They are glad to have their
jobs and we're getting housing, trailers, down here for them." 
                                      ---Bill Holland, bill_holland@platts.com

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