Grangemouth closure may hold some dire consequences. Especially if coupled with panic buying or ham fisted government intervention.
"BP, once 50% owned by the UK government, used to own and operate the Forties Field, the Forties Pipeline system and the Grangemouth oil refinery. This is a tightly coupled complex system where oil from the North Sea flows by pipeline to Kinneil terminal where it is either diverted to Grangemouth to be refined and then combusted by energy hungry consumers or it is diverted to Hound Point for export by tanker. The failure of any vital part of this complex system may close the whole system down. This system is now fragmented and its failure has just happened.
Failure by BP to recognise the dependency of the Forties Pipeline upon vital services provided by Grangemouth, and to provide contingency back up for their loss, is the principal cause for over 40% of UK North Sea oil and gas production now being shutdown."
It is easier to repair and restore flow to a blown Iraqi pipeline than get this one solved and up and running. Most of the queues at gas stations in the USA in 1973 oil embargo were from panic buying and government policy and not genuine gross shortage of supply. It will be interesting to see how the UK locals react to their sudden predicament. A perceived shortage followed by a real one.
Did you know the English word with the most vowels in sequence - "queueing" theory.
