Company News
Valve Issue Temporarily Closes Forties Pipeline
Monday 12th February 2018
The Forties North Sea oil pipeline suffered a second closure this month, although was back online relatively quickly after needing to be shut.
This time, a valve was responsible for the closure, which happened on Wednesday 7 February. However, engineers fixed the issue and it was back up and running by 8 February.
INEOS, which operates the pipeline through which approximately 450,000 barrels of oil are pumped a day, issued a statement at the time of the closure explaining that a feed control valve closed at the Kinneil facility.
"Automated safety systems operated as expected to safely close the main pipeline system," the firm said in the statement.
It added that it had identified the issue that caused the valve to close and would repair it that evening. The pipeline reopened the following day.
Back in December, INEOS had to close the pipeline for three weeks to repair a crack that it discovered during a routine inspection.
According to Web Financial Group, that shut down contributed to a climb in oil prices that saw Brent crude hit a two-year high at $64 a barrel. The website noted that, since then, the commodity had hit $70 per barrel, but has now fallen back below the $65 per barrel level.
When you're working on such important infrastructure, it's essential to have the highest quality parts to minimise downtime and ensure that there are as few unexpected closures as possible. Investing in Hy Lok valves is a sensible move if you want to be assured of quality and have complete confidence in your parts.
