A safety watchdog shut down one of Shell’s flagship North Sea platforms over fire fears, we can reveal.
The UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive issued the oil giant with a prohibition notice – which halts all work – following a gas leak on the Shearwater platform.
It is understood that more than 60lb of gas escaped during a pipe-cleaning operation.
The HSE made public the details of the notice for the first time yesterday.
Last night, Shell said an investigation had been launched into the incident
“Shell UK can confirm that on Friday, July 12, a prohibition notice was issued to the Shell-operated Shearwater platform located 140 miles east of Aberdeen,” a spokesman said.
“The notice relates to an incident which took place on Monday, July 1, when an estimated 28kg of hydrocarbon gas was released during a routine operation involving a pig-launcher.
“The situation was safely and quickly brought under control, the operation stopped and the relevant equipment was immediately taken out of service.”
Shell said work had resumed at the site.
The company started a redevelopment programme for Shearwater in 2011 involving the abandonment of the original production wells, and a drilling programme for the redevelopment of the Fulmar reservoir.
News of the gas leak comes just weeks after experts raised fears that corrosive fluids that caused a gas leak on Total’s neighbouring Elgin platform may have been used on Shearwater.
The corrosive fluids implicated in the Elgin leak, including calcium bromide, are commonly used in such deep-sea wells, and experts fear a recurrence as operators, under pressure to offset declining output from conventional reservoirs, turn to deeper, hotter and higher-pressure fields.
Shell insists it has never used calcium bromide at Shearwater.
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