Key pipeline questions

How long is the pipeline system and what does it do? The 235-mile Forties Pipeline System (FPS) links 85 North Sea oil and gas fields to the UK mainland and the Ineos site in Grangemouth. How much oil and gas does the pipeline carry? In 2016, the pipeline’s average daily throughput was 445,000 barrels of oil and some 3,500 tonnes of raw gas a day. The system has a capacity of 610,000 barrels of oil a day. It delivers 40% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas production. When was it opened? The Forties pipeline was opened in 1975 to transport oil from BP’s Forties field, the UK’s first major offshore oil field. Now FPS carries liquids production from some 85 fields in the central and northern North Sea and several Norwegian fields on behalf of 21 companies. When did Ineos acquire the FPS? Ineos completed the acquisition of the North Sea Forties Pipeline System and Kinneil Terminal from BP at the end of October. What happens to the oil once it reaches land? Oil is carried from various fields through the unmanned offshore Forties Unity platform and a 105-mile section of 36in pipeline then carries it from the Forties Unity platform to the onshore terminal at Cruden Bay. From there, a 36in onshore pipeline transports the oil 130 miles south to the Kinneil facilities, adjacent to the Grangemouth refinery and chemical plant, where it is processed and stabilised before output is sent either for export via the Dalmeny terminal and Hound Point loading jetty or on to Grangemouth. How could they repair the crack? Engineers will assess the crack over the next couple of days before deciding how best to repair it. Options could include replacing a section of the pipe or putting a clamp on it.

The oil in the Forties pipeline eventually finds its way to Grangemouth.