Labour praised the “quick thinking” of workers on the North Sea’s Elgin platform yesterday for preventing an even more serious incident.
Shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran also suggested more than one UK Government inquiry would be required into the gas leak.
She met oil and gas industry leaders on a visit to Aberdeen yesterday, with shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves and shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex.
Ms Curran said: “Safety must be the top priority when working offshore, and the strides made in health and safety in the last 20 years are very significant indeed.
“If this incident had occurred in another decade, it may have been unfolding very differently, and the vigilance of the workforce is critical to that.
“We need transparency from all the companies and sub-contractors involved about what exactly are the risks, and what is a realistic timescale for the platform to return to full operation.
“It is a rapidly-changing situation, but openness is absolutely critical.
“I think it is increasingly clear that, once the immediate operational crisis has been resolved, we need a full inquiry – or perhaps inquiries – to learn the lessons of why this happened.
“But there is no doubt that the quick thinking of staff may have prevented an even more serious incident.”
The UK Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change confirmed on Wednesday it was preparing to investigate the incident.