Total has started operations to stem the gas leak at its stricken Elgin platform in the North Sea.
The French energy giant said yesterday it had started drilling the first relief well to plug the leak, which is spewing seven tonnes of gas every hour.
Transocean’s Sedco 714 rig began drilling the well at the same time as 11 specialists flew out to the Elgin platform to continue preparatory work for a second procedure which it is hoped will kill the well before the end of the month.
The team boarded the installation as part of the operation to pump heavy mud and cement down the well to seal it.
A second relief well will be drilled by the Rowan Gorilla V next week, but the wells will take up to six months to complete and will only be required to stem the leak if the heavy mud and cement fail.
It comes after the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) gave the green light to the first relief well, which is being drilled nearly a mile east of the Elgin.
A Decc spokesman said: “We are happy with the progress Total is making to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The spokesman added the UK Government department would continue to monitor the situation closely.
More than 200 offshore workers were evacuated from the Elgin platform 150 miles east of Aberdeen when it started leaking nearly a month ago. The leak is costing Total £1million a day in lost revenue, while the National Grid has braced itself to miss out on up to £500million of gas this summer because the Elgin platform and surrounding fields are shut down.
The team, which went out to the installation yesterday, was the fourth to visit the Elgin installation in the last two weeks.
Experts from Total and Wild Well Control have flown out to the platform to carry out cleaning work ahead of the well kill.
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