September 29, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 21, 1423

NEW YORK, Sept 28: US gas pipeline operators said Friday that Gulf of Mexico producers were starting to restore some supplies cut from their systems early this week as Tropical Storm Isidore plowed into key Gulf producing areas.

While there were still significant amounts of gas shut in, most operators said they expected more supply back later this afternoon, with flows likely at normal again sometime over the weekend.

A lot (of cut production) is coming back as we speak. By this afternoon, most, if not all, of it should be back on, a Williams Cos. spokeswoman told Reuters, noting about 1 billion cubic feet per day of US Gulf supply was restored early today on its huge 7 bcfd Transco pipeline system.

At the peak Thursday, producers had cut some 1.4 bcfd from Transco, which ships gas from Gulf of Mexico platforms to major consuming markets in the Southeast and Northeast.

In addition, the spokesman said about 150 mmcfd was still shut in on its 2.8 bcfd Texas Gas pipeline system, which picks up supplies from east Texas and the Louisiana Gulf Coast and flows into the Midwest. That number was down slightly from the 200 mmcfd shut in yesterday.

Isidore, which forced US Gulf gas producers to shut in 30 bcf or more of output this week as they pulled crews off platforms ahead of the storm, dumped more than a foot of rain along the Gulf Coast but did not cause any significant damage to offshore facilities, sources said.

The storm made landfall in Louisiana early Thursday, then pushed into Mississippi but quickly weakened into a heavy rainstorm as it moved further inland.

Daily output cuts triggered by the storm climbed to as high as 8 bcf, or nearly 60 per cent of the 14 bcf produced daily from fields offshore of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Nearly a quarter of all US oil and gas is produced in the Gulf, which is vulnerable in late summer and early autumn to hurricanes.

But as quickly as Isidore faded from focus, traders and pipeline operators found themselves watching and worrying about another storm known as Lili.

Lili, which strengthened to a tropical storm again Friday, was in the central Caribbean on a similar track as Isidore.

Further strengthening was expected during the next 24 hours, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

And at least one private meteorologist raised the possibility Lili would become a major hurricane in the central Gulf early next week and again threaten shipping and offshore production facilities.

Meanwhile, most other major Gulf pipeline systems continued to report improved flows late today.

A spokesman for NiSource Inc. unit Columbia Gulf Transmission said about 200 mmcfd of supply was restored on its system early Friday, with about 350 mmcfd still shut in.

By tomorrow, everything should be back to normal, he said.

Columbia Gulf pipeline, with a capacity of 2.1 bcfd, gathers gas from offshore fields near Louisiana and sends it to key consuming markets in the Northeast and Midwest.

A Kinder Morgan spokesman said all 140 mmcfd that had been cut Thursday on its 5.7 bcfd NGPL pipeline system was back on line Friday.

Florida Gas Transmission (FGT), jointly owned by Enron Corp. and El Paso Corp, said flows were up today by another 60 mmcfd, leaving just 140 mmcfd still cut on its 1.95 bcfd system which transports gas from Texas to Florida and interconnects with several major interstate pipelines.

At its peak Tuesday, FGT saw about 550 mmcfd shut in.

Gulf South Pipeline, a joint venture between Entergy Corp. and Koch, saw 100 mmcfd come back but still had about 700 mmcfd shut in on its system, which extends from southern Texas to western Florida and connects with major interstate lines serving the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast regions.

CMS Energy also reported an increase in flows late Friday, with just 500 mmcfd still cut from its Terrebonne and Sea Robin gathering systems offshore Louisiana, down from about 1.1 bcfd trimmed on Thursday.

While Isidore caused significant production cuts this week, its impact was a far cry from Hurricane Andrew, which ripped through the region in 1992 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds between 131 and 155 miles per hour.

Andrew caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to offshore facilities, shut down key production fields for months and briefly led to a doubling of gas prices ahead of the peak-demand winter season.—Reuters