Enterprise Shuts Independence Pipeline for Four Days

By Jordan Burke

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Enterprise Products Partners LP, the second-biggest U.S. pipeline partnership by market value, shut its Independence Trail natural-gas pipeline for about four days to evaluate previous repairs.

The pipeline was shut yesterday at about 9 p.m. local time, Rick Rainey, a company spokesman said today in an e-mail. The Houston-based company is reviewing repairs completed in June that closed the line for 55 days.

A leak on the $286 million Independence Trail pipe, which connects to the Independence Hub, was detected April 9, shutting the line. Service resumed on June 3. Natural-gas futures traded in New York dropped as much as 1.6 percent when Enterprise said it was resuming service.

The Independence Hub, located in 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) of water, gathers gas from 15 wells in the eastern-most producing area of the Gulf of Mexico. At full daily production of 1 billion cubic feet, the hub accounts for 2 percent of U.S. gas supplies and represents 10 percent of deliveries from the Gulf, according to the Enterprise Products Web site.

The leak originated in an O-ring gasket on a pipeline flex joint in about 85 feet of water, Enterprise has said. Independence Trail is a 134-mile, 24-inch diameter conduit that connects offshore production with the Tennessee Gas system.

The company initially said repairs on the line would be completed within a month. Enterprise later said more extensive repairs were needed after workers encountered problems.

Anadarko, Helix

Enterprise owns the pipeline and 80 percent of the Independence Hub, which is operated by The Woodlands, Texas- based Anadarko Petroleum Corp., one of the producers the pipeline serves. Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. owns the remaining 20 percent of the processing platform.

Enterprise transports oil, natural gas and gas liquids through more than 35,000 miles of pipelines. Houston-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP is the largest U.S. pipeline partnership by market value.

Enterprise fell 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $28.72 at 10:09 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The units have dropped 9.9 percent this year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jordan Burke in New York at jburke29@bloomberg.net;