Elgin Incident: Flare Extinguished. No Explosion Threat (UK)

French oil giant Total, which has been fighting to stop a natural gas leak at its Elgin Field,located in the UK North Sea approximately 240 km east of Aberdeen, yesterday announced that the flare on the Elgin platform extinguished itself.

„We received the first indication that the flare may be out at 13.07 (French time) yesterday from a first surveillance flight of the day. A second flight  at 17.36 confirmed this observation.
We received a further assessment at 09.20 this morning, when our sea vessels on location reported no further flare activity through the night,“ said Total on its website dedicated to the Elgin Field incident.

The news comes as a relief after the warnings of the experts that said there had been a threat of natural gas cloud getting in contact with the flare, thus causing a major explosion.

UK’s Energy Minister Charles Hendry was pleased to hear the news: “This comes as very welcome news and a considerable relief. Although the platform was designed to use the prevailing wind to keep the flare from the escaping gas, the fact the flare is out removes a major risk from the equation. The task now is very clear – every effort must be made to locate and stop the gas leak.

Gas still flowing

Total on Friday held a press conference where Philippe Guys, Managing Director of Total E&P UK provided more details on the gas leak which was first identified on Sunday, March 25.

He said that, contrary to the media reports, the gas release occurred bellow the well head at deck level of the platform, and there was no subsea leak.

Furthermore, Phillip Guys admitted that the situation remains unchanged and the gas flow remains ongoing, at a rate of 200.000 m³ of gas per day.

With respect to stopping the leak, which has forced the company to evacuate 238 workers from the Elgin platform and the adjacent Rowan Viking jack.up rig, Total is preparing two main actions which are progressing in parallel.

One action entails drilling relief wells, and for that purpose Total has suspended operations on two of its drilling rigs in order to make them available for work on the relief wells.

Also, Total plans to block the well with “heavy mud” – using a mixture containing mineral compounds to be pumped into the well to suppress the flow of gas.

Following his visit to Total’s Emergency Control room on Saturday, UK’s Energy Minister Charles Hendry maintained his belief in Total’s expertise and ability to resolve the problem successfully:

„I know they have some of the best expertise in the world on hand to consider their options. The Government continues to monitor the situation very closely to ensure this incident can be resolved as quickly and with as little risk to human life and the environment as possible.”

Elgin and Franklin are two high pressure/high temperature gas and condensate fields, which started production in 2001. They are located in the British North Sea, approximately 240 kilometers east of Aberdeen, in Scotland. The Elgin field was discovered in 1991 and the Franklin field in 1986.

Total operates these fields through its wholly owned affiliate Elgin Franklin Oil & Gas (EFOG) and increased its stake to 46.17% in late 2011. The Group’s equity share of production from the three fields averaged about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2011.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, April 1, 2011