SHELL U.K. Limited said at the weekend that the oil leak in a flow line to their Gannet Alpha platform was under control.
The company explained that the subsea well was shut in on Wednesday and the flowline on the seabed was isolated and depressurized.
Shell added: “Leakage of oil has been considerably reduced. Shell takes all spills seriously, regardless of size and we have responded promptly to this incident. “The size of the sea surface affected is estimated to be some 31 kms by 4.3 kms at its widest point and the sheen is currently moving west from the field. “Our current expectation is it will be naturally dispersed through wave action and will not reach shore. The weather currently is southerly winds of 25 to 30 knots and the sea state is some 2 metre waves. “We have deployed a Remote-Operated Vehicle (ROV) to do inspection checks and monitor the subsea leak which is on a flow line on the sea bed. The relevant authorities (MCA, DECC, HSE) continue to be kept informed. “A stand-by vessel remains on station with oil spill response equipment and dispersant if required. Personnel on the platform are safe and the platform continues to operate.” The Scottish branches of RSPB, Greenpeace and WWF all criticised Shell for not releasing information on the oil spill immediately after it occurred. Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that the spill was the worst for more than a decade. The Gannet field is in the Central North Sea around 112 miles (180km) east of Aberdeen. It is operated by Shell U.K. Limited on behalf of itself and Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited. |
KIMO UK, local authorities international environemental, said it was disappointed that a significant amount of oil continued to be spilled from Shell’s Gannet Alpha platform into the North Sea.
KIMO UK believes that Shell should have been more open about the nature of the spill, reporting it as soon as it became aware of incedent, so that the appropriate contingency plans could be put in place by stakeholders who could be affected by the spill.
Norman MacDonald, KIMO UK Chair said: “Shell has suffered because of its ageing infrastructure in the North Sea before and it appears that it may have been affected by it again. Failures such as this should be prevented by the appropriate maintenance, inspection and monitoring not discovered when things go wrong.”
Tom Piper of KIMO UK said “Shell have stated they have dispersants on site but dispersants do not remove oil from our seas they merely reduce its visibility and little is understood about their long term impact on marine life.
“KIMO UK will continue to monitor developments and will be looking at the inevitable published investigations into the spill to ensure that any recommendations are fully followed up by both industry and government.”
Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "We take any oil leak extremely seriously, as the First Minister has made clear, and we are continuing to monitor this situation very closely. Marine Scotland officials are participating in the Operational Control Unit – alongside Shell, UK Government departments and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee – and are reporting back to Ministers on a regular basis.
"As is standard practice in incidents such as this, the UK Government, which has responsibility for the pipeline system, will be taking forward an investigation and I will be pressing for the Scottish Government to have a full and formal role, given our responsibilities for the marine environment.
"While there are inevitable difficulties verifying the extent and size of the leak, it’s vital that Shell and DECC make information available on an open, transparent and regular basis.
"The Scottish Government's primary role is to advise on the impact any spill might have on the marine environment. Marine Scotland aircraft are currently involved in surveillance work over the affected area. Fishing vessels in the area have also been made aware of the incident."
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