Ineos Declares FM, Forties Pipe Repair May 'Take Weeks'

Ineos, operator of the Forties oil and gas pipeline system, has said it could be weeks before a crack on an onshore section of its oil pipe is repaired.

It confirmed December 14 that it has formally declared force majeure on relevant Forties pipeline transportation contracts, adding that it will work closely with our customers during this period, as well as authorities and other stakeholders: "At this stage it is still too early to say how long the repair will take to complete, but it is expected to be a matter of weeks rather than days." 

A hairline crack on that section of the Forties oil pipe, discovered last week, has forced upstream UK North Sea oil fields to be shut in since the start of this week  – meaning also that about 25mn m³/day of associated gas has been taken out of the market.

Following the controlled shutdown of the Forties system December 11, Ineos said its technicians have continued to assess the latest inspection data from the small hairline crack in the pipe, south of Aberdeen.  No further growth has been recorded in the crack for 48 hours, the company said, so it has reduced a precautionary exclusion zone around the crack down from a 300 metre to 150m radius. 

The 235-mile pipeline system links 85 North Sea oil and gas assets to the UK mainland and the Ineos site in Grangemouth, Scotland, delivering almost 40% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas production. Acquisition by Ineos from BP of the Forties pipeline system and and Kinneil oil terminal was completed at the end of October 2017; the oil pipeline terminates at the PetroIneos oil refinery at Grangemouth (shown in picture above, courtesy of Ineos).