Ineos pushes Forties system maintenance to August

Ineos Forties pipeline system (FPS) has delayed its planned summer shut down between Unity platform and landfall at Cruden Bay, northeast Scotland, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Planned to begin June 16, the maintenance closure will now not start before August.

The FPS 36-in. OD subsea pipeline extends 169 km across the North Sea from the Forties Charlie platform via the Forties Unity platform to Cruden Bay. From there, the 36-in. OD FPS landline runs 209 km south to the Kinneil terminal at the Kerse of Kinneil, Grangemouth, via three pumping stations at Cruden Bay, Netherley, and Brechin which provide booster compression. Pipeline capacity is 610,000 b/d.

Maintenance affected by this decision includes:

• 10-12 weeks of work on the 225,000-b/d Train 3 crude stabilizer and gas processing unit at Kinneil.
• 3 weeks of work on the pipeline’s entrance to Kinneil.
• 32 days of work to replace the valves on the Graben Area Export Line’s pig receiver.

Ineos said it is “mindful of the benefits of completing this work to the future operation of FPS and the risks of not going ahead,” but that it “recognizes the importance of maintaining a flow of oil and gas through FPS during the current situation.” It also said that there had been an “overwhelming desire” to delay the shutdown on the part of its customers.