Gas plant shut down by blast

(First Edition)

PRODUCTION at the St Fergus gas plant near Peterhead in Scotland was shut down yesterday after an explosion in an oil heating area, writes James Cusick.

Nine fire engines were called to the plant, operated by Mobil North Sea, but no fire or leakage of gas was detected. One man was treated on site for shock, Grampian Police reporting that no one else was injured.

Mobil said the explosion happened at 7.20am and had been limited to a heater unit. The company has informed the Health and Safety Executive, which will carry out an inquiry into the cause of the blast. Mobil said it would also carry out its own investigations.

St Fergus, 40 miles north of Aberdeen, has two under-sea gas pipelines. The Flags pipeline, 278 miles long, transports natural gas from the Brent field, together with natural gas taken from other fields in the East Shetland Basin. The Fulmar pipeline brings in gas from the Fulmar and Clyde fields.