The European Commission (EC) has cleared the acquisition of the UK Forties Pipeline System (FPS), the Kinneil terminal and gas processing plant as well as the Dalmeny terminal by Ineos. The pipeline sale was announced by BP and INEOS in April 2017 and the payment included a cash payment of US$125m and an earn-out arrangement over seven years for the remaining US$125m.
The Forties pipeline, which currently transports around 450,000 bbl/d from 85 North Sea oil and gas assets, is the North Sea largest and oldest pipeline; it transports oil from the Unity offshore platform to the onshore terminal at Cruden Bay (Aberdeen), down to the Kinneil terminal near the Grangemouth oil refinery (belonging to Ineos). The pipeline carries around 40% of all UK oil production, and 20% of the oil that goes through the pipeline feeds Ineos refinery, which provides 80% of Scotland's fuel. The pipeline was originally built to transport 1 mb/d from the Forties field in the 1970s. The Forties field has been sold by BP to Apache in 2003 and the Grangemouth refinery to Ineos in 2005. Grangemouth is currently Ineos' largest processing facility by volume.
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