 Yn ystod, gyda cwestiynau cysylltu Llywodraeth Cymru, mewn ddysgu'r lleidwyr yn gyfawr i gael'r cyfnodau o'r ffordd y Pwlwyr ar Gweithgwyr ddiwedd o Aberdinshire. Yr Minister for Rwyll Aberdinshire yw Gweithgwyr yw Llywodraeth Cymru, pan gyrfaenol yng Nghaerffordd Llywodraeth, yng Nghaerffordd Llywodraeth, a'r bobl ASFolioedd i gael'r cyffredinol i gael'r cyffredinol. The interests of the public safety, worker safety, the wellbeing of the local communities affected and the environment are all key priorities. However, by way of background, a crack was discovered on 6 December 2017 in the 40s pipeline near Netherley to the north-west of Stonehaven during routine maintenance. The crack has extended, requiring the 40s pipeline system, which carries production from more than 80 fields in the central and southern North Sea to be shut down to allow for safe repair. A technical assessment is under way to inform the repairs that will be required and the likely duration of the shutdown. There are no plans to shut down Grangemouth Refinery and no impacts are anticipated for fuel and gas supplies. There are sufficient stocks of crude oil to continue operations in the refinery for more than a week, and Petrie and us are also developing contingency plans to import alternative supplies of crude oil should this become necessary to ensure continued operation. In addition, they are also able to import additional finished products to ensure there are no impacts on fuel supplies. We are very aware that an extended shutdown will have an impact on companies with fields utilising the 40s export route. We are seeking clarity from INEOS on the risks of this being necessary. In advance of details emerging on the timescales for returning the pipeline to normal operations, Scottish Government officials remain in close contact with NAS, FPS and Oil and Gas UK to monitor the impacts on the oil and gas sector and the wider economy. Mike Rumbles I thank the minister for that update, but the minister will be aware that people living along the length of the pipeline, especially in Aberdeenshire, are worried that they may be further, as yet undetected, fractures. What can the Scottish Government do to reassure local residents about that? It is clearly something that has occurred in terms of the discussions that we have had, and some thinking that we have had ourselves around making sure that we can give confidence to communities along the route that no similar problems may arise elsewhere. It is obviously very early in the process that we will be seeking information from INEOS to reassurances around whether that is related to a technical failure of a part of the pipeline or whether it is an indication of any further impacts that there may be elsewhere on the line. It is not possible at this stage to give any clarity on those points, but it is clearly something that has been raised by the Scottish Government with INEOS and we will seek further clarity on that. It is a fault that has been identified during routine maintenance. Routine maintenance happens all the time on the pipeline, and that hopefully will give confidence to the public that a breach has been discovered before it became a significant issue. We will give confidence to communities that are affected and that safety measures are in place to protect them from incidents such as this taking impact on their lives. Mike Rumbles Considering that the 40s oil pipeline is a critical part of the UK's energy infrastructure and it is quite an old pipeline, what does the minister think of the implications for oil workers affected by the temporary closure? As I understand, INEOS has just been telling me that it is understand to be the delays that are going to be weeks rather than days. What can the Scottish Government do to help those employees and their families? Mike Rumbles Clearly, in my original answer, I recognise that this is potential for an extended shutdown to have an impact on those companies that are currently both using the 40s pipeline in terms of production upstream companies that are relying on that pipeline to get their product to market, but also on those who are supporting that work, whether it is through service companies or other supply chain companies to have an impact on their livelihoods. We are trying to get information from oil and gas UK who are doing a ring round to try and speak to all the different businesses that are affected. I am not a liberty to discuss openly the specific companies that are affected by existing shutdowns at this point in time, but to make the member aware that we are having dialogue with oil and gas UK and INEOS on those matters. We will be seeking as a high priority to make sure that we protect the interests of those supply chain companies that may have cash flow difficulties if they are not able to conduct the work that they have been contracted to do at this point in time. Angus MacDonald Coincidentally, I spent the whole of yesterday morning meeting with senior INEOS management in Grangemouth at which the 40s pipeline was discussed among other issues. I was encouraged by the action taken by INEOS to safeguard the environment following the identified crack in the pipeline. Can I ask the minister if he has received any further assurances from INEOS on production at Grangemouth and security of supply for fuel and gas in the coming weeks as a result of the repairs that are required? What liaison has there been with the UK Government regarding security of supply? Angus MacDonald To reassure Mr MacDonald that I welcome his involvement as a local constituency member in taking interest in the welfare of those working at the Grangemouth plant, as I understand that, as I said in my original answer, the company has contingency plans to be able to ensure that they have sufficient crude oil to be able to continue operations at Grangemouth and that they do not anticipate affecting production. However, they also have plans in place to ensure, if that does arise, that they can access the finished product to make sure that there is no disruption to fuel supplies in the Scottish or Northern England markets. I think that the company is taking appropriate steps in that respect. On environmental protection, we believe that the issue has been contained, that it has identified what faults are there and that it is identifying a solution to repair the fault. We have every confidence that any of us are working extremely hard on that at this moment in time. The member also asked about engagement with the UK Government. At this moment in time, engagement has been at official to official level, but if necessary, we would be keen to engage with UK ministers on that. Obviously, there are key reserve powers in relation to oil and gas industry and the security of supplies of energy are also a reserve matter, so we will be keen to work collaboratively with UK ministers if that proves necessary. Lewis Macdonald I wonder if the minister can tell us whether the Government has been informed about any oil that may have been in the pipeline system, particularly above the site of the repair before it was closed down overnight, what has been done or will be done to remove that oil from the pipeline and make it safe, and also what are the financial, commercial and operational implications of that shutdown for operating companies? Producing that oil, the owners of that oil and other operating companies are reliant on the infrastructure and, by extension, what are the cash flow implications for companies in the supply chain in the north-east and across Scotland? Lewis Macdonald I clearly recognise the number of important issues that Lewis Macdonald raised. The pipeline is averaged daily through just under 450,000 barrels of oil a day and 3,500,000 tonnes of gas. I should stress that we had reassurance that there does not appear to be any threat to gas supplies from St Fergus terminal, so we will still be able to supply gas to national grid, so there are not any immediate threats to domestic heating supplies and other uses of gas. However, clearly such a loss of throughput is clearly of an impact, potential impact to those companies who are affected by that, and that is what we are hoping that Oil and Gas UK will be able to assist us with providing in confidence data to us in the course of the day as to the impacts on particular companies that are affected by that, because we are keen to ensure that we protect the workforce of those involved in production on the platforms that are being affected by the 40s pipeline system shutdown from having any impact on it. It is a difficult time for the sector already having any further exacerbating effect on employment or profitability in those companies. Stuart Stevenson Does the minister have any knowledge of the nature of the problem that has occurred in the pipeline, but more fundamentally, how the information about that failure may be shared with other pipeline operators to ensure that we have the best possible chance of this being a one-off? I think that Mr Stevenson makes a very reasonable point in terms of making sure that we learn lessons from that, including to relay any issues around good practice to other pipeline operators as swiftly as can be done. Obviously, health and safety executive is not a devolved agency, but I am sure that health and safety executive were taking a very keen interest in this to ensure that anything can be done to prevent a similar risk to safety being incurred in future. That is something that we need to take forward. It appears to be a crack, a breach in the pipe. As yet, we do not have a confirmed cause of that failure. That goes to the heart of what Mr Rumbles was also saying in relation to the cause of that, as to understand whether it is something like metal fatigue or some other cause, or whether it is something that has externally damaged the pipe and therefore caused the crack. As yet, we do not have an answer to that question, but I certainly commit to furnishing those answers to members in the chamber with interest once we have that identified. Lewis MacDonald has already asked questions about the commercial impact, so I will not repeat them, but does the cabinet secretary agree that the temporary shutting down of the 40s pipeline and the attendant implications of that has highlighted for all those who live in the north-east and those who are working in the north-sea already know, and that is the huge importance of Scotland's north-sea oil reserves to the UK economy? I think that it is a very valid point, and we all recognise that the oil and gas industry is extremely important to the Scottish economy, but at times of this you also realise that, A, it is a dangerous occupation in some parts of the job, and we have seen not least in the north-east in the past the tragic loss of life in Piper Alpha, but that is obviously on land, and there has been damage to the key pipeline here, but it also illustrates just how important the north-east and Scotland is to providing energy needs not just of Scotland but of course the whole UK in terms of critical oil and gas supplies. Clearly there is a very strong imperative on part of all agencies to making sure that the 40s pipeline system is back up and running again and doing the job that it has been doing for many years now to help supply us with our primary energy needs, which it is very much doing on a day-to-day basis, and we do often take that for granted. Thank you minister and members. That concludes our urgent question. We now move on to topic questions. Question 1 from Lee MacArthur. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent reports from HMIC.