Forties Pipe Down for Weeks: Ineos

UK privately-owned upstream and chemicals group Ineos said December 19 it "continues to make steady progress towards the safe repair of the Forties Pipeline" but that repairs might still take weeks.

It said a continued assessment had confirmed that the hairline crack on an onshore section of the pipe, has stabilised. The crack has not propagated since flows of oil and gas were stopped through the pipeline system December 11. "Repairs are progressing well and a number of options are currently being developed," said Ineos adding however that it had yet to choose its preferred method of repair: "At this stage it is still too early to say exactly how long the repair will take to complete, and there is no change to the previously indicated timescale of two to four weeks from December 11."

The closure of the pipeline system a week ago forced several upstream UK North Sea oil fields to be shut in– meaning also that about 25mn m³/day of associated gas produced by such fields has been taken out of the market since then. Ineos confirmed December 14 that it had declared force majeure on relevant Forties pipeline transportation contracts.