OIL giant Total has confirmed that a major gas leak on one of its North Sea platforms could go on for months and admitted there is a risk of explosion.
A full evacuation of more than 200 workers from the Elgin platform on Sunday was ordered as gas leaked from a “dead well”.
It sparked a full-scale emergency and last night Shell said it had started to down-man its Shearwater platform – four nautical miles away.
Safety bosses at Total admitted they still did not know how to attempt to stem the leak and said it could go on for months if a solution is not found.
And when asked if there was a chance the rig might explode, David Hains-worth, safety, health and environment manager at Total, told the Press and Journal: “So far since the start we have seen a steady release of gas which makes it clear there is some escalated risk. Things are very difficult without being able to get on to the platform and we are preparing for the full range of possible scenarios.”
A gas cloud has encircled the field – 150 miles east of Aberdeen – and the haze can now be seen from other platforms and support vessels miles away.
It was confirmed last night that the leak occurred during work to plug and abandon the well, which was no longer being used to produce gas.
Total has now closed all wells but remote monitoring has revealed that gas continues to be released “steadily” and a sheen of 23.5 tonnes of hydrocarbons has formed on the sea surface.
The sheen is thought to be gas condensate, a petrol-like substance that typically disperses naturally into the atmosphere within hours of release.
Jake Molloy, RMT official and general secretary of the Oil Industry Liaison Committee, represents 5,500 members in the sector.
Last night he expressed concerns that Total may never be able to stem the leak which will take the “world’s greatest experts to find a solution”.
He said: “I’ve spoken to one well engineer who says he’s never encountered this problem before.
“At the moment there is no obviously way of getting it to stop. This is not a case where you can just go and plug it up.
“With the added difficulties of the platform being high pressure and high temperature it makes it even harder for them.
“They obviously can’t go back to the rig as there is such a high risk of explosion. It is a major, major problem if it continues to leak.”
As a direct result of the risk the gas leak poses to their staff on nearby platforms, Shell has also suspended operations on the Shearwater and Noble Hans Deul drilling rig.
A Shell spokeswoman said: “While the move is purely precautionary and primarily driven by the prevailing weather conditions, and both facilities remain operational, it has been decided to reduce numbers to a more manageable level until the full situation surrounding the Elgin leak has been established.” Out of the 196 workers normally on the two Shell platforms, 79 will remain as essential personnel.
Despite the full-scale emergency, Total said it was pleased that it had managed to evacuate everyone from the rigs without any injuries or fatalities.
The company has mobilised experts from all fields to concentrate on fixing the situation and was “doing everything in their power to resolve this situation and to minimise the impact of this incident”.