Experts were still battling to fix an oil leak onboard a stricken North Sea platform last night.
Oil bosses at Taqa Bratani flew a team of specialists to the Cormorant Alpha on Wednesday after around 200 gallons of oil a day started leaking into the concrete leg of the platform at the beginning of the week.
Almost 100 men had to be evacuated during the emergency on Monday and the Brent pipeline – which serves almost 30 fields and accounts for 10% of the UK’s oil – was shut down stopping nearly 90,000 barrels of oil being produced a day.
Last night, the Abu Dhabi-based energy company confirmed oil had resumed flowing through the crucial subsea pipeline which they claim was only shut down as a precaution.
Production at the St Fergus gas terminal in Aberdeenshire, which had also been affected, resumed last night.
A spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that initial flows of crude oil have resumed in the Brent pipeline system following a precautionary shutdown on Monday.
“The Cormorant Alpha platform normally handles about 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil feeding the Brent pipeline system, including approximately 10,000 bpd of Cormorant Alpha production.
“Crude oil flows in the Brent pipeline system are expected to rise to approximately 80,000 bpd as other platforms in the Brent system return to normal operations.”
Production on the Cormorant Alpha remains shut down while the experts determine the source of the leak and assess how to stem it.
It is understood the amount of oil leaking the structure has decreased over the last five days due to the initial works which have been carried out.
All of the oil has been contained within the 500ft leg and it is understood a pump is in place to circulate the fluid back into the topside.
Cormorant Alpha is located 232 miles from Peterhead and 94 miles from Lerwick in Shetland.
The Health and Safety Executive said an investigation will begin into the leak after the situation has been brought under control.