Energy giant Shell has been fined £22,500 after it admitted committing one of the worst North Sea oil leaks in the past 10 years.
The energy firm was at the centre of an investigation following a pipeline leak from the Gannet Alpha in August, 2011.
More than 200 tonnes of light crude oil leaked from a flowline on the seabed 112 miles east of Aberdeen.
The case against Shell called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today following a lengthy investigation.
Paul Goodfellow, Shell’s Upstream Director, UK & Ireland, said: “We deeply regret the Gannet spill and accept the fine which has been handed down to us.
“We know that no spill is acceptable. Safety is at the heart of our operations and following this incident, a comprehensive review of our North Sea pipeline system was conducted. We have learnt lessons from this review and have applied them across our UK upstream operations.”
Sheriff William Taylor fined the company a total of £22,500, out of a maximum £30,000, for the two charges it admitted.
The leak, which was said to cover an area of 19 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, was discovered two days before the public were informed of the incident.
The subsea well was shut and the flowline isolated and depressurised.
It was the worst North Sea oil leak in a decade.
The UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change carried out a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive.
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