Page 15 - Euroil Week 12 2020

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil
Ineos delays Forties repairs amid COVID-19 concerns
UK
The 600,000 bpd Forties network handles around 40% of the UK’s oil and gas.
UK chemicals group Ineos has announced it will delay the planned shutdown of the Forties pipeline system (FPS), because of concerns about bringing workers together as the coro- navirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread.
The 600,000 barrel per day (bpd) Forties net- work, which transports around 40% of the UK’s oil and gas to shore, had been due to close on June 16 for major maintenance. The shutdown is now not slated to start until August at the earliest.
“Ineos is also mindful of the benefits of com- pleting this project work to the future operation of FPS and the risks of not going ahead,” it said in a statement on March 25. “However, it rec- ognises the importance of maintaining a flow of oil and gas through FPS during the current situation. The company found that there was an overwhelming desire to delay the shutdown by its customers, which it is responding to.”
Ineos said it would continue to hold discus- sions with its customers and other stakeholders during the coming days to decide on the best dates to undertake the required maintenance.
The decision to delay the work on the pipe- line system comes after the UK government’s announcement on March 24 of stricter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, includ- ing a ban on public gatherings of more than two people. Earlier that day it was confirmed that 84 more people in the country had died from the virus in the previous 24 hours, marking a new record.
The London-based firm announced in Febru- ary last year that it would invest around $585mn in extending the life of FPS by at least two dec- ades. Without this investment, the pipeline system can only continue running until the late 2020s. The project will involve the modernisa- tion of the Kinneil oil terminal in Grangemouth that receives the system’s oil. A new gas-process- ing train will be installed at the site and two older ones will be retired.
Ineos also plans to construct a new environ- mental plant to treat contaminants in the system. It will also invest in the upkeep of the North Sea’s Unity platform, which is a reception point for oil from the 80 or so fields that rely on FPS.™
Norway cancels maintenance in COVID-19 response
NORWAY
Maintenance has been cancelled at five offshore platforms and the Hammerfest LNG terminal.
NORWAY’S Equinor has delayed planned spring maintenance at the Hammerfest LNG plant as well as at five offshore platforms in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- demic, it said on March 20. The platforms are Aasgard A and B, Norne, Kristin and Troll C, a company representative told Reuters.
“They were planned this spring; now we will assess a new time schedule for this,” the spokes- man said.
Norway’s gas transportation system oper- ator (TSO) Gassco said separately that annual maintenance at the Kaarstoe gas-processing plants slated to take place in April and May had also been cancelled. The plants were due to undergo the maintenance from April 24 until April 25, reducing their processing capacity by 86.6mn cubic metres per day, and from April 24 to May 13, lowering their capacity by 75.6 mcm per day.
Gassco added that scheduled maintenance at the Emden and Dornum gas import terminals in
Germany, which receive supplies from Kaarstoe, had also been shelved. Kaarstoe is also one of the world’s biggest producers of LPG.
Equinor on March 23 said it would reduce non-critical activity offshore and had requested that employees already offshore extend their rotation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The company earlier this month announced the first reported case of coronavirus in an offshore worker at the Martin Linge field in the North Sea, which is currently under development.
Linge is due on stream at the end of 2020, more than three years behind schedule, and is expected to produce 5mn cubic metres per day of gas. Activity at the field was reduced after the case had been identified.
The company has set up a special department for responding to the pandemic and addressing its long-term implications. Norway is among the European countries least affected by the corona- virus. As of March 25, it had recorded only 14 deaths and 2,900 cases. ™
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