The Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields resume oil rig flanges gulf coast production following the successful repair of the Forties Pipeline System.

The Bruce, Keith and Rhum (BKR) fields have each resumed oil rig flanges gulf coast production following the successful repair of the Forties Pipeline System (FPS), Serica Energy plc confirmed Friday.

The fields, which were shut in on December 11 2017 after a hairline crack was found in the FPS at Red Moss, have been brought back into oil rig flanges gulf coast production as part of a phased restart of the whole FPS.

Serica will become operator of the BKR assets following the completion of a deal it signed in November last year with BP plc, which will see the oil major sell a 36 percent interest in Bruce, 34.83 percent interest in Keith and a 50 percent interest in Rhum.

The deal has an effective date of January 1, with completion expected to take place in mid-2018, according to Serica.

The Forties pipeline was initially opened in 1975 to transport oil from BP’s Forties field, the UK’s first major offshore oilfield. In 2016, the pipeline’s average daily throughput was 445,000 barrels of oil and 3,500 tons of raw gas per day.