Esso Midline Pipeline reopens

Esso’s Midline Pipeline, one of the UK’s main underground pipelines, has been reopened following temporary closure due to the discovery of a tapping device and the theft of approximately 30 000 litres of diesel. Esso stated that normal operations had resumed following “repairs and tests."

The Midline Pipeline transports fuel between Esso's Fawley refinery near Southampton to its terminal in Birmingham, UK. The pipeline was temporarily closed after police discovered stolen fuel in an industrial storage unit in Romsey. The tapping device was reportedly found only a few hundred metres from where the fuel had been discovered. A statement from the company following the discovery of the device stated: “Esso is committed to the very highest standards of safety and our specialists are now working to remove the tapping device, and repair and test the pipeline and restore it to normal operations as soon as possible.”

Esso noted that the pipeline was temporarily closed as a precaution and that there was "no leak of product". Two men have since been arrested and bailed on suspicion of planning to steal fuel.

Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/28042014/esso_midline_pipeline_reopens_249/