Ineos has announced it expects to complete repairs to the Forties pipeline system today.
On Sunday the operator said it had to reduce flow from the major North Sea pipeline in order to carry out repair works at its Train 3 processing unit at the Kinneil gas terminal, near Grangemouth.
After first stating the work is due to be finished between Thursday and Friday, Ineos has stated it is expected to be completed “later today”.
Ineos plans to restart Train 3 tonight, allowing customers to begin ramping up to full flow rates.
According to analysts Wood Mackenzie, Forties is the largest offshore 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.
After initially reducing flow to 150,000 barrels per day on Sunday, Ineos now has Forties flowing at 190,000 bpd.
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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