GULF OPERATIONS STILL RECOVERING

A.D. KOEN
GULF COAST NEWS EDITOR

Reports of damage caused by Hurricane Andrew were leveling off last week at the U.S. Minerals Management Service as Gulf of Mexico operators pressed ahead with repairs.

Total reports of damage to offshore oil and gas structures at midweek nudged past 200. In addition, reports to MMS of damaged pipelines totaled 135, 104 of them in Ship Shoal and South Timbalier federal planning areas.

"We think have a pretty good handle on the extent of damage, but we haven't gotten a lot of details," an MMS official in New Orleans said. "Any further damage discovered likely will be by underwater inspections."

The hurricane struck South Florida Aug. 24, churned west into the gulf, then swung north and hit the South Lousiana coast Aug. 25. By the close of business Sept. 8 MMS had received damage reports covering 83 pipeline segments and 193 platforms and satellite installations (OGJ, Sept. 14, p. 38).

RESTORING PRODUCTION

MMS last week estimated about 500 MMcfd of gas production had been restored in the gulf and 100,000150,000 b/d of oil. Production still lost as a result of Andrew was estimated at 2-2.5 bcfd of gas and 90,000-120,000 b/d of oil.

MMS estimates Gulf of Mexico wells before the storm were producing about 12.5-13 bcfd of gas and 750,000 b/d of oil.

"As other repairs are reported and approved after inspections to ensure safety and environmental standards have been met, I expect production figures to rise," MMS Director Scott Sewell said.

Sewell estimated gulf operators will need 3-6 weeks to restore all production lost because of Andrew. MMS estimated the storm will cost gulf oil and gas operators more than $200 million.

MMS officials Sept. 16 still had not issued a notice to lessees (NTL) requiring underwater inspections of oil and gas installations caught in Andrew's path. MMS expected to issue the NTL by the end of last week, but details could not be verified.

PIPELINE OUTAGES

An MMS official in Washington said at least two major gas pipelines will be out of service until sometime in November: a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. (TGPL) pipeline segment on Ship Shoal Block 72 and a Trunkline Gas Co. segment on South Timbalier Block 72 (OGJ, Sept. 14, p. 38).

TGPL last week had about 86 MMcfd of pipeline capacity shut down in the gulf.

The company rerouted through other gulf pipeline systems 65 MMcfd of the 125 MMcfd of gas normally shipped through TGPL gathering facilities on Platform A on Ship Shoal Block 72.

TGPL expects by Nov. 1 to reroute the remaining 60 MMcfd of gas throughput at Ship Shoal 72-A through subsea interconnects or pipeline facilities on Ship Shoal Block 72, Platform J. Another 26 MMcfd of TGPL pipeline capacity was shut in last week on Ship Shoal Block 263.

TGPL normally transports about 3.3 bcfd of gas through gulf pipelines.

HARD HIT PRODUCERS

Murphy Oil Corp., one of the gulf producers hit hardest by Andrew, continues to restore production at company operated installations in the gulf.

Murphy reported damage to installations on 19 federal tracts, all in the Ship Shoal, South Pelto, and South Timbalier areas. Hardest hit was Ship Shoal Block 113 unit, where Murphy found 11 well satellites toppled, one platform missing, and damage to segments of 30 pipelines. Block 113 unit includes Ship Shoal Blocks 112, 113, 114, 118, and 119.

Murphy expects to have most of its gulf oil and gas production interrupted by Andrew restored by the end of November and the remainder by yearend. Before the company had time to fully assess the extent of damage caused by Andrew, it expected to have about 4,000 b/d of oil and 55 MMcfd of gas production restored by the end of September.

"It took some time to assess the damage and come up with a plan to get production restored," a Murphy spokesman said.

Elsewhere, Kerr-McGee Corp. is producing at about 95% of capacity in the gulf, with two major platforms in the South Timbalier area shut in. Both platforms have wellhead damage. The company had 90% of its production restored within a week of the storm.

Nerco Inc., Houston, said Sept. 10 it had a net 2,000 b/d of oil and 15 MMcfd of gas still shut in due to pipeline problems resulting from the storm.

CONTRACTOR DAMAGE

In addition to damage sustained by gulf production installations and pipelines, gulf drilling and service contractors reported damage to several drilling rigs.

Damage to contractors' equipment had little effect on gulf oil and gas production.

Among Hurricane Andrew damage reported by contractors:

Cliffs Drilling Co., Houston, said its Marlin 3 mobile offshore production unit has been declared a constructive total loss by the company's underwriters. The unit was moved about 50 miles and grounded by the storm (OGJ, Sept. 7, p. 24). Cliffs will receive a third quarter payment of $10 million from the underwriters, which will be a gain to Cliffs of $4.7 million.
Dolphin Titan International Inc. (DTI), Houston, sent the Dolphin Titan 106 jack up to the Morgan City, La., yard of McDermott Inc. The service unit was working on Ship Shoal Block 58 when Andrew damaged the derrick and drilling floor. DTI put that service operation on hold until Dolphin Titan 106 is repaired in about 3 weeks. The rig is rated to work in water 11-100 ft deep.
Wilrig U.S.A. Inc., Lafayette, La., found no serious damage to its Treasure Rig 75 semisubmersible rig after retrieving it from South Pelto Block 8 where it was grounded by the storm. Before Andrew roared through the area, Treasure 75 had been moth balled on South Pelto Block 7 since Wilrig bought the unit from Penrod in late 1990. Wilrig returned the unit to mothball status on South Pelto 7.
Global Marine Inc., Houston, returned to service within 48 hr its Glomar Adriatic 11 jack up after Andrew caused a mud line connector to fail at the mud line collapsing a 30 in. conductor and blow out preventer stack.

Global replaced the conductor and BOP from spare parts onshore and sent the damaged units to shore for repairs. Glomar Adriatic II is drilling a development well in 145 ft of water on Eugene Island Block 255 for CYX Energy Inc., Dallas, a subsidiary of Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd.