GULF OF MEXICO PRODUCTION STILL RECOVERING

A.D. Koen
Gulf Coast News Editor

The extent of damage caused by Hurricane Andrew to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas installations continues coming into focus.

A preliminary tally by Minerals Management Service offers a reasonably complete summary of gulf production and pipeline systems damage detectable at the surface. But MMS officials expect to continue receiving reports of under-water damage as gulf operators comply with notice to lessees (NTL) 92-07 (OGJ, Sept. 28, p. 42).

MMS issued NTL 92-07 Sept. 17. It requires Outer Continental Shelf operators to inspect for under-water damage all platforms, pipelines, risers, and other structures within an 85 mile corridor along the path of Andrew's eye as it churned through the gulf. OCS operators have until Oct. 16 to submit plans for the Level II surveys.

Meanwhile, Gulf of Mexico producers and pipeline operators continue chipping away at production curtailments caused by the storm.

MMS was expected to report at the end of last week how much production curtailed by hurricane damage had been restored. The agency last week still was estimating it will cost as much as $200 million to restore operations at offshore installations damaged by Andrew.

DEADLINE APPROACHING

MMS has no record of how many Level 11 inspection plans gulf operators have been filed in response to NTL 92-07.

"We're just not tracking that on a cumulative basis," an MMS official said. "As the deadline approaches for companies to file inspection reports and plans for repairs, the status of repairs probably will be measurable then."

The most recent totals, released Oct. 1 by MMS, show Andrew damaged production facilities at 243 sites in the gulf, all but a handful in Ship Shoal and South Timbalier federal planning areas. Included in that total are 112 instances of structural damage, 82 satellite wells leaning and 31 toppled, and 4 platforms leaning and 14 toppled.

In addition, pipeline operators have reported damage to line segments at 309 locations, including 195 in Ship Shoal and 75 in South Timbalier areas.

MMS also received reports of five mobile offshore rigs set adrift by Andrew, fires at two locations, and visible oil releases at seven sites. Extremely minor, undetectable pollution likely occurred at scores of locations but was dispersed by the storm's winds and waves.

An MMS official said reported fires were extinguished within 48 hr after the Aug. 25 storm, and all instances of oil or gas leaks were controlled within a week of initial reports. MMS has not tallied the volume of oil released into the gulf because of storm damage.

"Pollution was relatively minor," an MMS official said. "There were no reported major oil spills."

He said the extent of pollution was limited because drilling, production, and transportation operations had been suspended and wells shut in before Andrew stormed in.

"Blowouts and things like that could not have occurred in most situations," the official said.

STATUS OF PRODUCTION

MMS's most recent estimates place production volumes still curtailed because of Andrew at 850-900 MMcfd of gas and 50,000-90,000 b/d of oil. However, estimated curtailed gas volumes included about 135 MMcfd of gas shut in after a barge collided Sept. 23 with a Tenneco Inc. pipeline on West Cameron Block 192.

MMS said its expected Oct. 9 update of curtailed production likely would be less than previous estimates.

A poll of gulf gas gathering and transmission companies found about 620 MMcfd of gas curtailed at four locations.

The largest continuing curtailment of gulf gas production last week was on South Timbalier Block 72, where damage to Trunkline Gas Co.'s T-21 valving platform was holding back throughput of about 450 MMcfd. An official at Panhandle Eastern Corp., Trunkline's parent company, said repairs were on schedule to restore pipeline capacity at the location by Nov. 1.

Trunkline is installing subsea lines to allow the gas to bypass T-21. A decision will be made during the winter about how to proceed with permanent repairs in spring 1993 (OGJ, Sept. 14, p. 38).

Last month, a gas processing consultant raised concerns that damage to onshore gas processing plants in South Louisiana will continue to hamper gulf gas production even after transportation is restored through T-21. Concern especially was expressed about the status of Shell Oil Co.'s 1.2 bcfd Calumet plant in St. Mary Parish, La.

However, Shell has reported damage to the plant was superficial. The plant resumed operations Sept. 15. Shell said the Calumet plant is capable of operating at 100% capacity, but repairs to offshore gas transmission fines must be completed before it can resume full throughput.