Warning of flaring as Fife's Shell NGL plant shuts down for upgrade work

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Residents on both sides of the Forth have been warned of flaring as Shell’s Fife NGL Plant shuts down ahead to carry out detailed inspections and significant upgrades.

The complex at Mossmorran - which operates next to ExxonMobil’s giant plant - will shut down in April and May for what the company described as “important, planned investment and maintenance work on site.”

It will take several weeks, during which time there may be a need for flaring - an issue which has sparked an in creasing backlash across local communities.

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The shut down is being done in co-ordination with the pipeline system from the North Sea including the St Fergus gas plant in Peterhead, and the neighbouring Fife Ethylene Plant at Mossmorran.

Fife Shell NGL plantFife Shell NGL plant
Fife Shell NGL plant

It means Shell, and other operators in the North Sea Supply system, can complete detailed inspections and significant upgrades as it invests in maintaining the system infrastructure.

The work will focus on the inlet to the Fife NGL plant from the main pipeline from St. Fergus, and its associated valves.

It will involve around 60 contractors.

A Shell spokesman said: “In order to shut down at Fife NGL, we must safely empty the inlet and pipework of hydrocarbons so that they can be accessed and worked on.

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The activity over this period will require carefully planned use of the flares on site”

The company said it would keep the community updated with briefings ahead of any planned flaring.

Further work is planned in June and September,

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