SA gas supplies to resume when pipe safe

Gas supplies to Whyalla and Port Pirie in South Australia will only resume when a repaired pipeline is considered safe, the line's maintenance company says.

Work to repair the ruptured line, which has cut service to 5500 businesses and homes in Port Pirie and another 4000 in Whyalla, was substantially completed on Thursday.

But Epic Energy said it was still working with the Department of State Development and independent experts on a reinstatement plan.

Chief executive Clive D'Cruz said the plan would ultimately determine when gas supplies could resume.

"Commencement of gas flow will only begin once we are satisfied that the pipeline is fit for service," he said.

Whyalla Council said on Thursday it expected supplies to resume throughout the weekend with about 100 representatives from the APA Group, which manages SA's gas network, to work with local residents to reconnect supplies to individual properties.

Also on Thursday Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis raised the prospect of the state government mounting a legal case to seek compensation for local businesses.

"If we can find out if there's a fault or not, there might be some legal action we can take on behalf of people against the distributors," he told ABC radio.

Mr Koutsantonis urged Whyalla and Port Pirie traders to keep detailed records of their losses.

Late on Thursday, gases and engineering company BOC said it had successfully injected a supply of natural gas into the Whyalla pipeline network after sending a tanker of liquified gas from Victoria.

General manager Alex Dronoff said the priority was to supply the Whyalla hospital but the gas was sufficient to also supply some parts of the town.

He said BOC had worked with SafeWork SA and APA to ensure the gas was safely delivered.