Matthew MacKinnon Linning CBE (2 March 1924 – 21 December 1986) was a Scottish engineer, and was project director for the BP

Forties Oil Field The Forties Oil Field is the second largest oil field in the North Sea, after the Clair oil field, which is located 110 miles east of Aberdeen. It was discovered in 1970 and first produced oil in 1975 under ownership of British Petroleum, now ca ...

in the 1970s; this field is the largest oil field in the North Sea.

Early life

He studied electrical engineering at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow, graduating in 1944. He did his National Service, becoming a captain in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

Career

He entered the oil industry in 1947.

BP

Until the mid-1960s no-one knew that the North Sea contained so much oil ( United Kingdom Continental Shelf, or UKCS). Britain imported all of its oil, costing around $1bn per year. ''

Sea Quest The ''Sea Quest'' was a semi-submersible drilling rig. She discovered the UK's first North Sea oil on 14 September 1969 in the Arbroath Field. She also discovered the first giant oil field named Forties on 7 October 1970. The ''Sea Quest ...

'' discovered the Forties oil field on 7 October 1970; the vessel had also discovered the first North Sea oil field on 14 September 1969; ''Sea Quest'' had a significant effect on the UK economy. The Forties field is around 110 miles east of Aberdeen. During 1971 and 1972 BP drilled to a depth of 7,000 feet, and estimated the field to contain around 1.8 billion barrels of oil. He joined BP in 1969, and was made responsible for expansion at Llandarcy oil refinery, the UK's first oil refinery. He became head of the BP Forties Development Group in 1972, the height of the North Sea oil bonanza.New Scientist April 1974
/ref> He remained in charge of the Forties oil field until 1977. Four platforms were built in the field (Block 21/10); each was 16,800 tonnes and 550 feet high, with two built by Highland Fabricators (HiFab) at

Nigg Bay Nigg Bay ( gd, Camas Neig) is a large, relatively shallow sandy bay, consisting of mudflats, saltmarsh and wet grassland, located on the north east coast of the Cromarty Firth, east of Invergordon, in the district of Ross and Cromarty and in th ...

in the Cromarty Firth; the

Forties pipeline system The Forties pipeline system (FPS) is a major pipeline transport network in the North Sea. It is owned and operated by Ineos and carries 30% of the UK's oil, or about of oil per day, to shore. It carries liquids production from 85 fields in the ...

came ashore at Cruden Bay, then to

Grangemouth Refinery Grangemouth Refinery is a mature oil refinery complex located on the Firth of Forth in Grangemouth, Scotland, currently operated by Petroineos. It is the only operating crude oil refinery in Scotland (following the cessation in 2014 of Bitum ...

(Kinneil Kerse). He was an executive at BP Petroleum Development. In April 1976, his team at the Forties field received a

Queen's Award Queen's Award can refer to: * Queen's Awards for Enterprise, formerly The Queens Awards to Industry * Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sector of the United Kingdom * Queen's Award for Forestry T ...

. In February 1975 he became general manager at BP Petroleum Development. On 3 November 1975, the Queen came to BP's headquarters at Dyce to switch on the BP Forties field, in his presence. He left BP in 1978. Production from the Forties field peaked in 1979 at 500,000 barrels per day. BP would drill oil from the Forties field for 27 years.

Personal life

He died aged 62 in December 1986 in west London. At BP he was captain of the BP football team at Aberdeen. He enjoyed reading the works of Charles Dickens. He was married and had a son and two daughters. He was made an OBE in the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

, and a CBE in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

References

* ''Times'' obituary, 17 January 1987, page 22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Linning, Matt 1924 births 1986 deaths Alumni of the University of Strathclyde BP people British businesspeople in the oil industry Commanders of the Order of the British Empire North Sea energy Scottish electrical engineers