Last Friday, Shell divers closed the relief valve from which oil had been seeping.
No oil has been released from the flowline, or release valve, since that point. Continuous monitoring is being carried out to ensure that no releases have occurred.
A reconnaissance flight on Tuesday evening reported that there was no sheen on the surface. Small sheens have appeared from time to time as dredging work is carried out to establish the source of the original leak. They have quickly dissipated and it is to be anticipated that this will occur occasionally as work disturbs the seabed.
To date, 72 concrete mats have been successfully laid on the flowline in a process to secure it to the seabed. This work has now secured all of the buoyant sections of pipe to the seabed. More mats will be laid over the coming days.
Work has begun to evaluate the various options for evacuating the remaining mixture of gas, oil and water in the pipe. This process will take a number of weeks. Once it is completed, plans will be put to the Secretary of State’s Representative for his approval.
[mappress] Source: Shell, August 25, 2011