BP investigating Shetland oil leak
3 Oct 2016
Oil and gas firm BP has taken its Clair Platform offline after oil was found to have leaked into the sea.
The leak, which occurred at around 10am on Sunday, was caused by a fault in the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas, BP said.
The company is now investigating the cause of the fault and has taken the field offline until the investigation has ended.
The total oil in water volume that was released has yet to be accurately assessed and work to determine this is ongoing
BP spokesman
Members of BP’s oil spill and environmental team, alongside Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), have been called in to assess any potential environmental impacts and to agree the best way to respond, BP said.
A spokesman for BP said: “At present, we believe the most appropriate response is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action are being prepared."
BP said the most likely volume of oil to sea has been calculated from platform data as around 95 tonnes.
"Both direct observation from surveillance flights and oil spill modelling continue to show the oil moving in a northerly direction away from land," the spokesman said.
"The most recent surveillance flight already indicates significant dispersal of the oil at the surface."
The Clair platform is located 75km (46 miles) west of the Shetland Islands.
- Story updated at 1630 BST on Monday to incorporate more accurate data
