Subsea oil and gas pipelines lead to unique discoveries

This week, BP revealed that during a routine inspection of its Forties oil pipeline offshore the UK in the North Sea, the company discovered an old World War II bomb.

Lying just feet from the Forties pipeline, is a 13-foot-long Nazi German mine.

"An unidentified object was observed lying next to the BP-operated Forties pipeline in the North Sea,” The Scotsman reported a BP spokesman said. “The object was subsequently identified by specialists as a piece of Second World War military ordnance. It is lying adjacent to the pipeline approximately 40 kilometers off the coast from Peterhead.”

A major North Sea oil transporter, the Forties pipeline delivers oil and gas liquids production from more than 50 offshore developments in both the UK and Norwegian North Sea. The pipeline system boasts a capacity of more than 1 million barrels a day.

According to reports, the mine has not yet detonated, and BP is mulling its options, which include leaving the bomb where it is or removing it. The latter would require that the Forties pipeline be shut-in for several days.

About a year ago, the Nord Stream Consortium reported discovering some 12 shipwrecks while performing extensive seabed surveys to map the pipeline route.

The vessel graveyard was discovered next to the Nord Stream pipeline route, and construction work was amended so as to not disturb the shipwrecks.

At least nine of the 12 ships discovered were of “great cultural historical value” and well preserved. Most of the vessels were commercial ships from the 18th and 19th century, but one is believed to be as old as the Middle Ages.

Nord Stream is a natural gas pipeline being built across the Baltic Sea to link Russian production with European markets.

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Phaedra Friend Troy is the content director for PennEnergy.com, an all-energy website that provides oil and gas, power and infrastructure news, analysis, reports and more. Sign up for a free daily enewsletter today.