Total has suspended drilling operations on two rigs in the North Sea so they can be used in a major operation to help stop the Elgin platform gas leak.
The plan, which would involve two relief wells being drilled at installation 150 miles east of Aberdeen, is one of two now being worked as the offshore giant battles to halt the constant flow of highly flammable hydrocarbons.
Both schemes, however, are being hampered by a flare used to burn off any excess fuel or gas after a shutdown. Drilling the relief wells could take months – but operations could start in weeks once the flare is out, Total said. UK Government Energy Minister Charles Hendry, who joined Total UK’s managing director Philippe Guys at a press conference near the firm’s Aberdeen base yesterday, said: “The focus now will first of all be dealing with the flare, if it doesn’t burn itself out.
“Secondly, it will be stopping the release of gas condensate, and thirdly the situation with regard to other wells on the platform.”
Options to put the flare out include military helicopters dousing it with water, nearby fire fighting vessels – placed on standby earlier this week – putting it out, or staff returning to the deserted installation to extinguish it. An air and sea exclusion zone is in place around the platform, which was evacuated on Sunday, and Shell has shut down its neighbouring Shearwater operation as a precaution.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the leak was discovered, Mr Guys said the non-toxic but potentially-explosive leak remained a “serious issue”.
“We believe there has been little change over the five days since the incident and the leak remains ongoing,” he said. “While we cannot make a direct measurement of the leak, based on historic data, we estimate it to be at around two kilos per second, which is about 200,000 cubic metres (7million cubic feet) per day. How we can safely reboard the platform and how, safely, we can re-enter the well, that is what we are working on at this time.”
He said to try stop the leak, the firm was working on a “well kill” operation.
“To do that we have suspended operations on existing drilling rigs that are working with us and currently drilling wells in order to release them to be able to intervene and to drill the relief wells.”
The rigs are the Sedco 714 and the Rowan Gorilla IV. Before any relief wells can be drilled the firm will have to survey the seabed to see where the jack-up rig could be positioned.
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