USCG, Shell Wrap Up Skimming Ops in GoM Oil Spill

The oil spill response crews have concluded skimming operations at this time as they have recovered more than 84,000 gallons of oily-water mixture following an oil spill from a Shell subsea well-head flow line in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard informed.

The skimming operation were concluded due to the lack of visible recoverable oil being found by either aerial or surface assets in the area some 90 miles south of Timbalier Island, Louisiana.

“Aerial assets have been assisting the clean-up efforts by vectoring the response crews to possible recoverable oil in the water,” the USCG said.

“There is one vessel remaining on scene that will be assessing potential environmental impact from the discharged oil.”

An estimated 88,200 gallons of crude oil was reportedly discharged from a flow line at Glider Field on May 12.

More than 150 personnel have been mobilized for the oil spill response, as well five on-water recovery vessels which collected oily -water mixture at the site of the incident.

Shell earlier said that the oil spill was not well control-related, as there were no drilling activities at Brutus, adding that it launched an inspection into the subsea equipment and flowlines in the Glider field.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is leading an investigation to determine the cause of the spill.

Although USCG said that there have been no reported impacts to wildlife or the shoreline, Greenpeace estimated that the oil spill “is the largest since BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the effects of which are still resonating throughout the region.”

“The Shell spill is just shy of qualifying as a “major” spill under the Coast Guard’s classification system,” Greenpeace added.