British oil company BP has provided an estimate of the amount of oil spilled into the sea from the Clair platform in the North Sea on Sunday.
In an update on Monday afternoon, BP said that the most likely volume of oil to sea has been calculated from platform data “as around 95 tonnes.”
The incident happened around 10 am on Sunday, October 2 when a quantity of oil in water was released to the sea from the Clair platform. BP has said that the incident happened as a result of a technical issue with the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil, and gas.
The release was stopped within an hour once the issue had been identified and Clair production was taken offline. Production at the Clair platform remains shut as BP is looking into the cause of the technical issue.
BP said it would let the oil disperse naturally, adding the most recent surveillance flight already indicates “significant dispersal” of the oil at the surface.
To remind, in a statement sent to Offshore Energy Today earlier on Monday, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “It’s disappointing BP have been unable to provide an estimate of the amount of oil spilled yet feel able to say they are happy to leave it to disperse naturally.”
The Clair platform is located 75 kilometers west of the Shetland Islands.
Offshore Energy Today Staff