Forties pipeline system

The Forties pipeline system (FPS) is a major pipeline transport network in the North Sea. It is owned and operated by Ineos and carries 30% of the UK's oil, or about 550 koilbbl/d of oil per day, to shore.[1] It carries liquids production from 85 fields in the North Sea and several Norwegian fields on behalf of around 40 companies. The system has a capacity of 575,000 barrels of oil a day. FPS consists of a 36 in pipeline originating at APA Corporation's Forties Charlie platform. The pipeline carries crude oil 169 km, routing through the Forties Unity riser platform, to the terminal at Cruden Bay. From there unstabilised crude is co-mingled with natural gas condensate from the St Fergus terminal and pumped to the processing facility at Kinneil, Grangemouth. The onshore pipeline has three intermediate pumping stations at Netherley, Brechin and Balbeggie.

History

The original 32-inch pipeline was opened in 1975 to transport oil from the Forties Oil Field, the UK’s first major offshore oil field. The Forties Unity installation was installed in 1992 including new 36-inch pipelines. The 32-inch pipeline was abandoned in situ.

It was formerly owned and operated by