Fairfield Energy Limited confirms that, following the hydrocarbon sheen reported in the vicinity of the Osprey subsea manifold last Tuesday (10th July), an ROV survey has now successfully identified the source of the subsea leak less than 5 days after the initial reports of the sheen.
Fairfield Energy are consequently arranging for a Diving Support Vessel (DSV) to implement the necessary repairs and enable production from the Osprey field to safely restart.
Immediately, following discovery of the sheen, the online Osprey wells were closed and a vessel was deployed to observe the area. A series of aerial observations were commissioned and all relevant authorities were notified. By Friday the aerial surveillance flights were unable to find any presence of oil.
A vessel equipped with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was dispatched to survey the Osprey manifold, and the source was identified overnight Saturday 14th July. Very small quantities of oil are being released intermittently from the manifold, and this is dispersing readily in the prevailing weather conditions. Dialogue is on-going with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). DECC has concluded that the spill has no impact on the environment.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , July 16, 2012; Image: Fairfield