This is the biggest field to enter the Forties pipeline system (FPS) for ten years, and first oil from Buzzard is expected to start flowing through the system in late 2006, rising to a plateau rate of around 180,000-190,000brl/d. Welcoming the award, FPS commercial manager Andrew Hadjitofi said, “BP is pleased to win this strategic new business against intense competition from other oil export options. In recent years, we have developed increasingly competitive offers for access to the FPS to support the development of smaller fields and new entrants to the North Sea as well as existing customers and larger fields like Buzzard. This award will be important in sustaining high rates of utilization for a vital element of North Sea infrastructure, bringing benefits for existing and future customers, and is also good news for BP’s Grangemouth complex.” The addition of Buzzard to the FPS will mean that Forties Blend remains the largest volume traded blend from the North Sea. The physical connection to the Forties System will be made by means of a new 18-in diameter, 28-km long, pipeline link and a subsea hot tap into the main sealine about 60kms from the Scottish coast. Production from fields using the system will not be affected during the course of the tie-in work, which is scheduled to be carried out in the summer. The Forties pipeline system is owned by BP and commences at the Forties Charlie platform with the landfall at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire. The pipeline then continues to the processing terminal at Kinneil, adjacent to BP’s Grangemouth complex in central Scotland. Crude oil is shipped from the Hound Point terminal on the Firth of Forth. The system was constructed for the development of the Forties field, and first production occurred in 1975. In the early 1990’s the system was expanded to a 1.15MMbrl/d capacity, with a focus on providing pipeline transportation to companies developing and operating fields throughout the North Sea. The co-venturers of the Buzzard development project, who signed an area operating agreement on 13th November 2003, are EnCana (UK) Ltd (43.21254% ownership, and field operator), Intrepid Energy North Sea Ltd (29.89122%), BG Group (21.73307%), and Edinburgh Oil and Gas plc (5.16317%). There are estimated to be around 1.2 billion barrels of oil in place, of which it is estimated more than 400 million are recoverable, making Buzzard the largest oilfield to be developed in the UK North Sea in over a decade. Gas will be processed on the platform and used for power generation. A heads of agreement was signed with Total E&P UK and Elf Exploration UK (the Frigg UK pipeline owners) in November to export surplus gas via the Frigg system. A 10-in pipeline will be laid from Buzzard to the Captain ‘T’ point on the UK Frigg line, 29km distant, and from there, the gas will be transported to the St Fergus Gas Terminal. On the basis of the reservoir as it is now known, it is likely that the platform will become gas deficient for power generation in the next 5-7 years, and will then need to import gas. The agreement with Total and Elf provides for the supply of fuel gas at that time as required, as well as for commissioning and start-up.