A lightning strike in Aberdeenshire caused the temporary shutdown of a major North Sea pipeline today.
The Forties Pipeline System (FPS) was shut down after a power surge at Cruden Bay in the early hours of the morning.
Operator Ineos said the outage was caused by a lightning strike.
The firm said all safety systems responded accordingly and a shutdown took place in line with safety protocols.
The pipeline system now since been restarted.
A spokesman said: “INEOS FPS confirms the pipeline has reopened and we are currently working with our Customers to sequence their production into the system.”
Earlier this year Ineos reduced flow from the FPS over the course of a few days to carry out repair works.
According to analysts Wood Mackenzie, Forties is the largest offshore pipeline system in the UK North Sea by volume.
It serves around 80 fields in the Central and Northern North Sea and several Norwegian fields, and last year it averaged 400,000 barrels per day of throughput.
In December 2017, flow through Forties was suspended, forcing a host of oil majors to shut down production from fields served by the giant pipeline due to a lack of storage.
Industry body Oil and Gas UK said £20 million worth of North Sea production per day was being held back as a result.
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