An aerial shot of the crack in the Forties pipeline. Its closure has had the knock-on effect of shutting down about a fifth of North Sea gas outputThe crack that has forced the shutdown of the Forties pipeline is of a type never before seen on the ageing infrastructure, Ineos has admitted, as gas prices receded further from Tuesday’s highs. The petrochemicals group, which bought Britain’s biggest North Sea pipeline just six weeks ago, said yesterday that it was honing in on a suitable solution for repairing the unprecedented damage to the pipe, which is expected to be closed for up to a month. Ineos announced on Monday that it was having to make a rare unscheduled shutdown of the Forties pipeline system, which carries 40 per cent of UK oil production, after a widening hairline crack was discovered on an onshore section near Netherley in Aberdeenshire. The pipeline, opened in 1975,…

Source: The Times December 13, 2017 17:09 UTC