Energy giant Total last night admitted it is facing a bill of nearly £350million to halt the gas leak on it Elgin platform.
Around seven tonnes of gas is spewing from the North Sea installation every hour.
And the French firm told investors yesterday that the emergency shutdown is costing nearly $1.5million (£940,000) a day. That is likely to double when work to drill two relief wells – expected to begin later this week – gets under way.
The intricate subsea mission to stem the flow of gas is expected to take six months to complete – by which time the operation will have cost £342million, based on the company’sestimates yesterday.
Total’s chief financial officer, Patrick de la Chevardiere, said stopping the leak was the firm’s number one priority.
It is now nine days since all 238 workers were evacuated from the Elgin platform, about 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen.
At one point, the leak wiped more than £5billion off Total’s share price. The company held a conference call with financial analysts yesterday in an attempt to ease market fears.
Mr de la Chevardiere sought to distance the leak from BP’s Macondo blowout in 2010, which caused the biggest marine oil spill in history.
“There’s no crude oil involved here and there-fore the current impact on and risk for the environment is relatively low,” he stressed.
“In addition, the leak is at the wellhead of the platform, above and not under water.”
He added: “We are monitoring the air quality around the platform and the gas is dissipating at a satisfactory rate.”
Mr de la Chevardiere said Total is working closely with government and regulatory authorities to deal with the situation.
He said: “The group is committed to mobilising all technical, human and financial means to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”
The company is awaiting approval from the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive to launch a helicopter mission to the abandoned platform.