Total tests reveal that the North Sea leak at Elgin has stopped
FRENCH oil major Total said yesterday that several inspections had revealed that the leak of the G4 well on the Elgin complex north of Aberdeen in Scotland had stopped.
Total said it started pumping mud into the disabled well on 15 May and the leak stopped 12 hours later.
The next step will be to re-man the Elgin complex and restart the Viking drilling rig to set cement plugs on the G4 well, which will take several weeks.
The platform is 150 miles across the coast of Aberdeen.
The gas began leaking on 25 March, triggering an emergency response with fly-overs by spotter planes to assess the extent and source of the leak.
The Elgin platform and neighbouring operations were evacuated.
President of exploration and production at Total,Yves-Louis Darricarrère said: “While we will obviously take on board any lessons to be learned, I want to congratulate all the teams, including our partners that have been mobilised with the only focus to stop the leak.
“It is important that we continue to work together with the authorities to conclude the ongoing investigations, take into account lessons learnt.”