UK's Forties crude pipeline reopens after refurbishment

The UK's Forties pipeline -- the country's largest crude oil supply route -- has resumed pumping after a three-week shutdown that cut the country's oil output by around a third, pipeline operator Ineos said June 24.

Output levels are expected to take time to recover as one branch known as the Graben Area Export Line (GAEL) undergoes further maintenance, while some operators of individual fields continue their own maintenance.

The highest-producing contributor, Buzzard, remains closed, the operator, China's CNOOC, confirmed to S&P Global Platts, having shut down for maintenance on May 17.

Ineos shut the pipeline in late-May as part of a major overhaul, having bought the crude artery from BP in 2017 and announced a GBP500 million ($690 million) investment program in 2019 intended to ensure the route's viability in future decades.

Ineos' own forecasts suggest Buzzard will remain offline to the end of June and the pipeline's overall throughput will rise to 273,000 b/d in July, 299,000 b/d in August, 294,000 b/d in September and 323,000 b/d in October, however, these amounts represent volumes before processing and a portion is likely to be for the Grangemouth refinery near Edinburgh.

Forties is typically the largest component in S&P Global Platts' Dated Brent benchmark, used in oil trade around the world, alongside Norway's Ekofisk, Troll and Oseberg and the UK's Brent blend.

Ineos earlier announced it had completed reconfiguring the site where the pipeline makes landfall on Scotland's east coast at Cruden Bay, enabling the restart.

The shutdown has added to an overall slump in UK oil output so far this year attributed to a lack of drilling in the wake of the pandemic, operators catching up on maintenance, and a general lack of new investment.