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North Sea oil leak stopped

The worst North Sea oil leak in over a decade has been stopped after more than a week, it has been announced. Oil company Shell said it has stopped the leak from a flowline to the Gannet Alpha platform in the North Sea. More than 200 tonnes of oil have entered the North Sea from the pipe since the problem was first detected on August 10. The oil current covers around four square miles of sea, and is 3.62 tonnes by volume, according to the latest estimates. Today, Shell divers closed the relief valve from which oil had been seeping at a rate of less than one barrel a day. Shell has three vessels on site with dispersants and specialised oil spill response equipment if needed. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/shell-north-sea-oil-leak-stopped-2340407.html

Hopes rise for oil leak solution, Scotia concludes works today

Oil company Shell began laying concrete weights, known as "rock mattresses", on Thursday, which will allow it to close valves at the end of the affected pipeline safely. More than 200 tonnes of oil, equal to 1,300 barrels, has escaped from the pipe in the worst oil spill in the region for over a decade. Around one barrel a day is continuing to leak out. On Thursday night the company said it was continuing to make "good progress" towards stopping the leak from the "flowline" to the Gannet Alpha platform. At least five rock mattresses were positioned yesterday to secure the flowline to the seabed, so that it does not move or create further problems. Operations by the Marine Scotland vessel Scotia are also expected to be concluded on Friday morning. The vessel has been taking samples of fish, sea water and sediment from the affected area. Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said : "The vessel is making good progress and we expect her operations to be concluded by Friday morning."

Scotia sent to leaking platform

The "Scotia" was sent to the drill rig "Gannet Alpha" off Scotland as oil continued to leak from the pipeline of Shell's platform. A total of 660 tonnes of oil remains trapped inside the leaking system, and there were fears of a sudden release if plans to use divers to close a leaking valve go wrong. Shell has estimated that 216 tonnes have already escaped into the North Sea. Hercules transport planes with dispersants were put on stand-by to deal with any emergency and vessels with booms and other containment equipment were heading for the scene, 112 miles off the Aberdeen coast, as a small amount of oil continued to spill from the 20-year-old pipeline. There was a risk the operation could lead to further stress being placed on the system, leading to an uncontrolled release of the remaining trapped oil. Much of the marine growth around the relief valve where the leak is continuing has been removed and Shell was assessing the risk" of using divers to manually close the valve. The flow rate currently stands at less than one barrel a day. Shell announced on Aug 17 that production on Gannet Alpha will be shut down for 30 days in line with a planned summer shutdown.