Information on the Impact of the Introduction of Buzzard Crude to Forties Blend

08 March 2006, BP, the operator of the Forties Pipeline System (FPS), today issued guidance on the effect that introduction of oil from the Nexen-operated Buzzard field into the FPS would be expected to have on Forties Blend crude oil when Buzzard begins production.

Oil from the Buzzard field will be exported through the Forties Pipeline System and so become a constituent of Forties Blend crude, affecting its hydrocarbon characteristics. Buzzard is expected to begin production late in 2006 and build up to peak production of approximately 210,000 barrels a day in 2007.

Initial assays on Buzzard crude made by Nexen indicate that the oil is a medium gravity, sour crude with an API of 32.6 degrees and whole crude sulphur level of 1.44% wt. Current Forties Blend crude (sampled in March 2005) has an API of 44.6 degrees and sulphur level of 0.20% wt.

As a result of the introduction of Buzzard crude into the FPS, it is expected that the API of Forties Blend crude in 2007 will be some 2.9 degrees lower than currently and 3.5 degrees lower in 2010, when it would be expected to have an API of around 41 degrees, similar to the gravity the Blend had in 1997. Over the same period to 2010, the sulphur level of Forties Blend would be expected to rise to around 0.56% wt.

Full details of a projected assay of Forties Blend in 2007, when it would be expected to contain approximately 23 per cent Buzzard crude, and further information on the impact this would have on the properties of the Blend are contained in the information issued today by BP.

The full information note and assay can be viewed on www.bpcrudes.com or a copy obtained from alex.stacey@bp.com, telephone +44(0)20 7948 3496.
alex.stacey@bp.com
Notes to editors:

* The Forties Pipeline System is owned by BP and commences at the Forties Charlie platform with the landfall at Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire. The pipeline then continues to the processing terminal at Kinneil, adjacent to the Grangemouth complex in central Scotland. Crude oil is shipped from the Hound Point terminal on the Firth of Forth.
* The Forties Pipeline System was constructed for the development of the Forties Field and first production occurred in 1975. In the early 1990s the Forties system was expanded to 1150 thousand barrels per day capacity with a focus on providing pipeline transportation to companies developing and operating fields throughout the North Sea.
* The system currently carries and average of 650,000 barrels of oil a day production and carries oil from over 50 offshore oil fields.

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