The Buzzard oil field in the UK North Sea is pumping below capacity at around 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) after a problem with a separator at the Kinneil oil terminal, sources said yesterday.
BP’s Kinneil oil stabilisation and gas separation plant receives crude through the Forties pipeline and separates it for shipping via the Hound Point terminal or for further processing at the nearby Grangemouth refinery.
A BP spokesman said work was being carried out to replace a part at one of Kinneil’s separators, adding: “We hope to have it operational later this week.”
Buzzard, among assets acquired by CNOOC in its takeover of Canadian firm Nexen, should be pumping at about 200,000bpd.
The field had ramped back up to its full capacity last Friday following an outage earlier in February.
Four days of pipeline inspection maintenance are due to begin this Friday, so Buzzard’s output rates are expected to remain lower than usual for a short while longer.
Rolls-Royce has been awarded a £26million contract to supply equipment and services to power the flow of gas through the Uzbekistan section of the Turkmenistan-China natural gas pipeline.
The global power system company will supply Asia Trans Gas, a joint venture between Uzbekistan’s Uzbekneftegaz and China’s National Petroleum Corporation, with three RB211 gas-turbine driven pipeline compressors for operation at a compressor station.
Rolls-Royce president for energy Andrew Heath said: “This contract strengthens our role and demonstrates the track record of reliable technology and services we deliver to the world’s largest energy infrastructure projects.”