Enbridge to restart Gulf of Mexico natural gas pipeline in February

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – A US offshore natural gas pipeline could begin restarting operations for some producers next month, about three months after the line was shut due to a fire on a Royal Dutch Shell platform in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Reuters.

Enbridge Inc., which runs the 1 bcf/d Garden Banks gas pipeline, notified customers that its work to separate the pipeline from Shell’s fire-damaged Enchilada platform will be completed in early February. It added the timing “could change based on unforeseen circumstances,” according to the report.

Enbridge said that after the initial work is finished, it and operators of the South Marsh 192 and Garden Banks 260 platforms would begin refilling the pipeline and begin a restart. It did not say when connections to the other three affected platforms, Auger, Magnolia and Enchilada, would be renewed. Pipeline access to those platforms remains shut until further notice, it said.

The Garden Banks pipeline extends from Garden Banks block 128 to South Marsh Island block 76, where it interconnects with four existing interstate pipelines to move gas onshore.

01/11/2018