THE Shell boss fighting to stop the worst North Sea oil spill in a decade has said sorry – and admitted that the company’s inspection regime had let it down.
About 216 tonnes of light crude – equal to 1,300 barrels – has spilled near the Gannet Alpha platform over the past seven days after a pipe burst open on the seabed.
The Press and Journal can reveal that there are still several hundred tonnes of oil in the ruptured flow line, 113 miles east of Aberdeen.
Last night, Shell technical director Glen Cayley apologised for the spill and said the company’s best minds were working to end the crisis.
At one point, a sheen on the surface of the sea stretched for 18 miles and environmental groups fear the pollution could have an impact on seabirds.
The Scottish Government has now started tests to measure the impact on marine life amid fears that contaminated fish could enter the food chain.
Mr Cayley said: “It’s a tough and difficult business and a tough operating environment. There are known risks and you need a robust plan to respond when this kind of event happens.
“Nevertheless, it is always a significant setback when this happens – and we are sorry.”
Shell brought the initial leak under control earlier this week but discovered yesterday that oil had started to escape from a nearby release valve that is surrounded by a complex web of subsea equipment and marine growth.
Mr Cayley admitted that the second leak, which is releasing about one barrel of oil a day, was “extremely tough” to get to.
Shell is still assessing whether it can get a diver to the location.
“You need someone with a brain, rather than an intelligent remote operated vehicle (ROV), to activate the valve,” he said.
“There is a valve to activate, so we should be able to switch that off.”
Shell has refused to speculate on the cause of the original leak but Mr Cayley said wear and tear – rather than some sort of impact – was most likely to blame.
The company inspects its vast network of underwater pipes using ROVs with camera equipment. It also sends devices down the lines to measures their thickness and integrity.
However, Mr Cayley admitted the inspection of the pipe at Gannet Alpha had clearly fallen short.
“We’ll look at our existing pipeline inspections and maintenance programme,” he said. “It’s let us down, so there are bound to be changes.”
Shell managed to shut down the oil well feeding the pipe on Wednesday within hours of being informed of the problem. That isolated the leak and the company has since taken all the pressure out of the pipe, stemming the flow of oil from the initial hole.
However, a huge quantity of oil remains in the pipeline and the company faces a major battle to keep it there.
“We are talking about hundreds of tonnes of additional oil in the pipeline that we need to preserve and keep there,” Mr Cayley said.
“Until we have completely eliminated the leak and secured this pipeline, I would say that there is still risk.”
He added: “We don’t yet know how we are going fix that breach (the hole) and we are developing those plans now.
“Not only have we got the top people here in Aberdeen, we have some excellent contractors and we have access to Shell Group expertise from New Orleans and Holland.”
The company has come under intense pressure for failing to release details of the incident sooner.
It was alerted to the spill on Wednesday and immediately informed both the UK and Scottish governments, as well as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
It was not until Friday afternoon that any details of incident were released, and Monday before the scale of it emerged.
Mr Cayley, whose role covers Shell’s exploration and production activities in Europe, said the delay in informing the public of the problem was because the company had few firm facts itself.
However, he conceded that things could have been done differently.
“When you go through an experience like this, you always learn something,” he said. “And in hindsight you would always do things differently. We’ll be making every effort to get those learnings embedded.”
The operation is being co-ordinated from Shell’s offices at Tullos, Aberdeen and there will be a full investigation by the company and the HSE.
The leak is the biggest in the North Sea for a decade. The total amount of oil discharged in the whole of 2009 from all offshore installations, vessels and pipelines was 50.93 tonnes.
There have been 10 other documented releases from Gannet Alpha in the past two-and-a-half years, although they have all been minor.
The Scottish Government said a fishery research vessel would take fish, seawater and sediment samples to monitor any environmental impact from the leak.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “There are currently no Scottish fishing vessels operating close to the vicinity of the oil leak, therefore no impact is expected in terms of contaminated fish entering the food chain, but we remain vigilant.”