Offshore logo
Two rigs mobilise for Elgin crisis
Posted 30.03.2012 09:41:35 av John Bradbury
Vis RSS feed
Send nyhet til en venn
Total is considering mobilising two rigs in the North Sea to drill a relief well to stop the continuing gas leak on its Elgin platform.

Also the operator is looking at pumping heavy mud into the leaking G4 well to plug the leak, according to the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change in its latest statement on the North Sea gas leak crisis. 

“ TOTAL is working on the belief that a failure of the well system has caused gas to enter another part of the well not normally designed to handle gas,” the DECC says in its second statement on the crisis.  “The point of entry has been estimated at a point 4,000m (13,120 feet) below the seabed and this is allowing gas to travel contained within the well system to the platform.  There is no evidence that gas is being released below sea level,” DECC emphasised in its statement which was issued late last night, 29 March.

Daily meetings are now taking place between DECC and Total personnel at an emergency response centre in Aberdeen.

Personnel attending the meetings including DECC, the Health and Safety Executive, the Marine and Coastguard Agency, Marine Scotland and Marine Lab, to ensure a coherent response to the incident.

“Clearly this is a very concerning incident but we should recognise that so far the response from TOTAL and Government agencies has been very effective. Everyone has been evacuated from the platform safely and TOTAL are looking at options to stop the release of gas as quickly as possible,” the DECC statement added.

 The DECC has also sought to correct a statement made by Energy Minister Charles Hendry during a television interview with Good Morning Scotland which was broadcast on Monday, in which the Minister suggested it was possible to remotely switch off the flare on the Elgin platform, although the platform had been evacuated and was left unmanned. Although that was a “faithful statement of the information as he was briefed, ” DECC has since said that was in fact incorrect, and Hendry has since made it clear it is not possible to extinguish the flare remotely.

But the flare stack could still ignite an explosion: “The flare remains a risk and Total is considering options for extinguishing it directly if it does not go out itself,” DECC has said.

Those options include using a helicopter to drop water or other material to extinguish the flame; using fire-fighting vessels – if they can reach the flare stack flame – or by purging the gas processing system on the platform with inert nitrogen, which would mean putting people back on the platform.

Meanwhile DECC has also sought to estimate the amount of gas condensate which has escaped. Aerial surveys are now taking place three times a day and the sheen on the sea has spread to cover an area approximately 22 kilometres by 4.5 km – 99 square kilometres - and the amount of leakage is now put at 3.8 tonnes.”DECC’s view is that there remains no substantial risk to the environment,” the statement says.
Advertisement
Latest news

Dry well north of Brynhild

Sweden's Lundin Petroleum has missed out on proving up further reserves near Norway's Brynhild discovery with a dry hole to the north of the field.

[Les mer ] Exploration

Noble rig to drill offshore Malta

Drilling is due to commence in a deepwater block offshore Malta in the eastern Mediterranean later this year using a Noble deepwater semi-submersible.

[Les mer ] Exploration

FMC snares Julia deepwater order

Statoil and ExxonMobil have selected FMC Technologies for the supply of subsea equipment for the Julia field development in the US Gulf of Mexico.

[Les mer ] Contracts

Success in the North Sea

Premier Oil's interim statement today underlined the success it is enjoying in the North Sea and internationally.

[Les mer ] Field development

Greater Gabbard parties settle over quality concern

Offshore wind developers SSE and Fluor have settled a contract dispute over the turbine foundations used at the Greater Gabbard wind farm in the North Sea.

[Les mer ] Company news

Oil companies face price-fixing probe

Statoil is facing a price-fixing investigation by the Norwegian Competition Authority on behalf of the European Commission which is looking into anti-competitive agreements.

[Les mer ] Company news

Profilerte stillingerAlle stillinger »
Profilerte selskapFra OffshoreX.no
ATLAS SERVICES GROUP NORWAY AS Logo

ATLAS SERVICES GROUP NORWAY AS

Atlas Services Group Norway AS is a subsidiary of Atlas Services Group B.V. A leading international company with nearly 30 years of experience in recruitment and staffing of specialists. We put consultants to work in the oil and gas, power, engineering, renewables, seismic and hydrographic, offshore, dredging and shipping industries. www.Atlas4Jobs.com contains over 300 000 CVs

Se profil | offshorex.no
VEX-GRUPPEN AS Logo

VEX-GRUPPEN AS

VEX-Gruppen Rekruttering og Bemanning er lokalisert på Straume på Sotra og i Stavanger. Vi bemanner og rekr. til alle type stillinger til næringslivet og jobber for gode relasjoner med fokus på effektivitet og fleksibilitet.Vi oppnår de beste resultater ved å sette mennesket i fokus,vi finner den rette for deg. Er du jobbsøker og ser en spennede stilling er det bare å sende inn din cv

Se profil | offshorex.no
Victor A/S Logo

Victor A/S

Victor A/S leverer services og løsninger til markederne energi, offshore og marine. Vi producerer og leverer EPCM løsninger i komplekse rørsystemer i alle metaller, plastik og fiberglas, tryksatte/ikke-tryksatte tanke, konstruktion af procesmoduler og konstruktion af køleløsninger til ethvert formål.

Se profil | offshorex.no
OFFSHORE MEDIA GROUP AS Logo

OFFSHORE MEDIA GROUP AS

Nordens største nyhetsleverandør til olje- og gassbransjen.

Se profil | offshorex.no
RENTAL TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES AS Logo

RENTAL TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES AS

RTS er leverandør av teknologi og utstyr som brukes i forbindelse med feltutbyggninger, kartlegging og inspeksjon. RTS utvikler produkter som brukes av de fleste aktører som driver med med konstruksjon og Subsea både i Norge og internasjonalt.

Se profil | offshorex.no
GOODTECH PROJECTS & SERVICES AS Logo

GOODTECH PROJECTS & SERVICES AS

Goodtech Projects & Services har 75 ansatte i Bergen og kompetanse innen automasjon, kraftsystemer, og integrerte operasjoner. Vi har partneravtale med Siemens og Aspentech. Vår viktigste kunde er Statoil og prosjekt er Prosess data portal (PDP).

Se profil | offshorex.no
Tips oss
Telefon Bergen: 55 20 72 00
Telefon Stavanger: 51 56 42 82
Kontakt oss
Sentralbord: 55 20 72 00
Sentralbord: 51 56 42 80
Annonsere
Bergen: 55 20 72 00
Stavanger: 51 56 42 80
Ansvarlige
Sjefsredaktør: Helge Keilen
OPPHAVSRETT
Alt innhold er opphavsrettslig beskyttet.