Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK– BP has issued a statement on yesterday’s oil leak which shutdown operations at the Clair field platform, 75 km (47 mi) west of Shetland.
At around 10 a.m. a quantity of oil in water was released to the sea from the platform due to a technical issue with the system separating the mixture of produced water, oil, and gas.
The release was halted within an hour once the issue had been identified and Clair’s production was taken offline. BP has started an investigation: the field will remain offline for the time being.
Oil spill and environmental specialists from BP,Oil Spill Response Ltd., and the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are assessing any potential environmental impact, and the appropriate response.
At present, BP believes the best approach is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, however contingencies for other action are being prepared.
Oil has been observed on the sea surface and the company is monitoring its movement. Direct observation and oil spill modeling indicate the oil is moving in a northerly direction away from land.
10/03/2016
