Enbridge reports impact to operations affected by Hurricane Rita
  by: OilOnline
  Monday, October 03, 2005

Enbridge Inc. and Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. have provided an update on the status of operations in the U.S. Gulf Coast region affected by Hurricane Rita.

Enbridge Inc. has interests in five pipeline corridors in the Gulf of Mexico. In advance of Hurricane Rita, all personnel along the four corridors that Enbridge operates were successfully evacuated and facilities shut down by Wednesday afternoon, September 21, 2005.

Flights over the eastern Gulf began on Sunday, September 25, 2005 and impact assessment continued through the week. We have now confirmed that no material incremental damage from Hurricane Rita appears to have occurred on the three eastern-most corridors (Destin, Mississippi Canyon and Green Canyon).

The western Garden Banks and Stingray corridors were along the path of Hurricane Rita. Initial onsite and aerial inspections were completed last week and confirmed no material damage to platform facilities and pipe integrity was not compromised. Sonar inspection of underwater pipe to assess sediment support and cover is pending. No major structural damage appears to have occurred at the onshore Stingray dehydration and compressor facilities however, due to flooding, the electrical, control equipment and office buildings require repairs that we believe can be completed by year-end 2005.

We estimate the potential 2005 earnings impact of Hurricane Rita will be approximately Cdn $5 million. Our estimate is subject to a number of factors including ongoing assessments, disclosures by operators of interconnecting production and processing facilities, and discussions with insurance carriers.

Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. ("Partnership") onshore gas transmission and processing systems in Texas and Louisiana were affected either directly or indirectly. The offshore UTOS system, which comes onshore in western Louisiana, was in the direct path of the Hurricane Rita damage and resulting floods. The UTOS system and interconnected production and processing facilities have now been visually inspected and we confirmed no material structural damage to pipeline integrity or onshore facilities. However, flooding damaged the electrical equipment and process controls, requiring repairs over the next few weeks.

Other natural gas gathering and processing midstream systems have been indirectly affected due to storm-related third-party facility disruptions that temporarily curtailed our ability to gather unprocessed natural gas at our processing plants. We mitigated the impact and avoided extensive gathering and processing system shutdowns by arranging for gas liquids to be trucked out of plants and by working with interconnecting natural gas pipelines to manage natural gas quality at major receipt points. The impact to the Partnership's 2005 net income caused by Hurricane Rita is estimated to be approximately US $2 million.