Shell fined over North Sea spill

The company was sentenced after it admitted failures that led to an oil leak in the vicinity of its Gannet F field, 180km off the coast Aberdeen in the North Sea.

We deeply regret the Gannet spill and accept the fine which has been handed down to us

Shell’s UK upstream director Paul Goodfellow

The oil spill, which was discovered on the sea surface in August 2011, was secured a few days later after relief valves attached to the Gannet F pipeline were manually isolated and closed.

Though Shell estimated that a total of 218 tonnes of oil was released because of the leak, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, who conducted a joint investigation, concluded there was significant impact to the environment or risk to human life.

Shell’s upstream director of UK and Ireland Paul Goodfellow said: “We deeply regret the Gannet spill and accept the fine which has been handed down to us.

“We know that no spill is acceptable.”

Environmentalist campaigners have voiced their dismay at the size of the fine, however.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “While it’s welcome that Shell has accepted its guilt, the paltry size of the fine handed down will do little to deter future poor behaviour by it or the rest of the oil and gas industry.

“Despite being responsible for the worst North Sea spill in a decade, the level of the fine is literally a drop in the ocean when compared to the billions earned by Shell annually.”