Forties pipeline reopens after valve issue at Kinneil

The Forties pipeline, which carries oil from the North Sea to the Scottish mainland at Kinneil, near Grangemouth, has reopened.

The flow of oil was stopped on Wednesday after a problem was discovered with a valve connecting the pipeline to the Kinneil gas plant.

About 450,000 barrels of oil are pumped through the Ineos-owned pipeline each day from North Sea installations.

The incidents marks the second time the pipeline has been shut since December.

Ineos said it had mobilised a team to investigate the valve.

The closure of the Forties pipeline has already caused some oil companies to halt extraction or exports.

The pipeline was previously shut in mid-December for three weeks, after the discovery of a crack near Netherley in Aberdeenshire.