Sabine issues shipper alert for Sea Robin natgas

NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Sabine Pipe Line LLC said Wednesday it issued a "critical operational flow order" effective 7 a.m. CDT for all natural gas from the Sea Robin interconnect at the Henry Hub, the benchmark trading point for NYMEX natural gas futures.

OFOs and other alerts protect the operational integrity of a pipeline by requiring shippers to take action to balance their supply with their customers' usage on a daily basis within a specified tolerance band.

Sabine said in a website posting the flow order was issued for all gas receipts from Sea Robin due to "the presence of liquid hydrocarbons being delivered at levels that threaten the operational integrity of the pipeline system and the BTU content of the gas stream being at a level that exceeds the maximum allowable level of interconnected downstream pipelines."

The Sea Robin natural gas processing plant was one of several plants along the Louisiana Gulf Coast shut in in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

If conditions are not corrected by 9 p.m., Sabine said it would curtail all gas receipts from Sea Robin.

A portion of the Sabine system remains under force majeure after also being shut in due to Gustav.

The company lifted force majeure at most receipt points early last week, but several points on its mainline system remained under force majeure due to planned maintenance at the Port Neches compressor station.

A separate posting said the Port Neches maintenance would last through Sept. 12.

Sabine, a unit of oil major Chevron Corp (CVX.N), operates a 131-mile pipeline that transports natural gas between Erath, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas.

Due to interconnects with more than a dozen interstate and intrastate pipelines, the Hub was selected as the official NYMEX natural gas delivery point. (Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; editing by Jim Marshall)