ENBRIDGE ENERGY PARTNERS, L.P. 
By HOUSTON (Reuters) - Enbridge Energy Partners LLC (>> Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P.) said it restarted its 215,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Ozark crude pipeline on Thursday after a shutdown for maintenance, and the line was operating at a reduced rate.
Enbridge shut the 435-mile pipeline on June 14 for maintenance but excavated a portion of the line under a lake near Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a closer look when an initial inspection indicated it might have weak spots.
No leaks were found, Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer said.
Energy intelligence firm Genscape said earlier on Thursday that it had detected increased flows on the line to nearly 91,000 bpd.
The planned work on the portion of the line under Lake Oologah was finished, Springer said, but crews will remain on site to finish re-burying the line.
He said he had no information on when the line would resume pre-outage rates, but that Enbridge should soon receive nominations for July shipments.
The restart came earlier than expected. On Monday Enbridge said it had notified shippers that the outage would last through June 29 because stirred-up silt at the bottom of Lake Oologah made it difficult for divers to quickly inspect the line. The original outage was slated to last 10 days.
The pipeline runs from the U.S. crude futures hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, to Wood River, Illinois.
(Reporting By Kristen Hays; Editing by John Wallace)
