El Paso's So. Natural Gas ends Alabama line work

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - El Paso Corp (EP.N) unit Southern Natural Gas Co said it returned to service on Thursday a portion of the 24-inch north main line in north-central Alabama between its Providence and Tarrant compressor stations, after the line was taken out of service for work Monday.

"The repair has been completed and the line has been returned to service. No capacity reductions were required as a result of this outage," the company said in a website posting.

In a separate posting, the company said maintenance on the 20-inch main pass Franklinton line from Gate 6 to its Toca compressor station was complete and the line was returned to service. Southern began accepting nominations at two points on the system, but maintenance continued on some remaining points south of the Toca station.

Last year Southern was unable to complete maintenance on various sections of its pipelines between its Olga platform and the Toca station, with delays due to contractor issues, hurricanes Gustav and Ike and other weather-related issues.

The current work, which is located offshore Louisiana, is part of the maintenance that had been delayed last year.

The 7,600-mile Southern Natural Gas pipeline system is part of El Paso's 42,000-mile interstate pipeline system connecting the nation's most prolific gas supply regions with the largest consuming regions, transporting more than a quarter of daily natural gas consumption in the country. (Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; Editing by Walter Bagley)