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September 1, 2005
Dominion Reports Minimal Hurricane Damage To
Gulf of Mexico Operations
RICHMOND, Va. – Preliminary assessment by Dominion (NYSE:
D) shows that Hurricane Katrina caused only minimal damage to its major Gulf
of Mexico offshore platforms. Further examination of the platforms’ underwater
pipelines and inspection of facilities is proceeding.
Dominion, one of the nation’s largest energy companies,
has resumed about 75 million cubic feet equivalent (mmcfe) of its current daily
offshore production of 400 mmcfe of natural gas, most of that from the West
Cameron area near the Texas-Louisiana border. Dominion’s total offshore
and onshore production before Hurricane Katrina was about 1.2 billion cubic
feet equivalent per day.
Dominion does not have firm information on pipelines or processing
facilities that transport and process its offshore output.
Preliminary examinations by Dominion and its partners showed
that platforms at its major sites, including Devils Tower, Front Runner, Neptune
and Main Pass 281, suffered only minimal damage. A smaller platform, Main Pass
270, incurred severe damage and will require further assessment. Main Pass 270
was producing about 11.5 mmcfe per day net to Dominion before it was shut down
prior to the hurricane.
Business interruption insurance will be activated after a
30-day deductible period should production be curtailed for a longer period.
Business interruption coverage includes losses from Dominion facilities as well
as losses resulting from damage to pipelines and processing facilities owned
by others.
Because of damage to its New Orleans offices, Dominion is
temporarily moving its Gulf of Mexico offshore operations headquarters to its
Houston offices.
Dominion has an energy portfolio of about 28,100 megawatts
of generation, about 6 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas
reserves and 7,900 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also
operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more
than 965 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers
in nine states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web
site at www.dom.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements, including
our expectations for repairs to our offshore facilities that are subject to
various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from management’s projections, forecasts, estimates
and expectations may include factors that are beyond the company’s ability
to control or estimate precisely, such as differences between preliminary and
final storm damage assessments, construction and repair delays, or delays in
approvals by the Mineral Management Service. Other risk factors are detailed
from time to time in Dominion’s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q
or annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
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