Ah yes but the gas is clean ... it is not seen ...
No doubt that the experience of BP will be used ... between oil tankers must help each other eh
Total destabilized by a major gas leak in the North Sea
(Easybourse.com) The oil group, faced since Sunday with a large gas leak on a platform in the North Sea, suggests a period of six months to solve the problem. The title falls on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The gas leak that caused the evacuation of the Total Eglin platform in the North Sea continues Tuesday but the situation is "stable", according to the oil group that says it is doing everything possible to find a quick solution to this situation and minimize the impact of the accident.
The risks posed to the environment are at this stage minimal, says the French oil group, while agreeing that it is "the biggest incident that we have encountered for more than ten years in the North Sea". Given the risk of explosion, the group evacuated the 238 employees working on the platform in the night from Sunday to Monday.
According to BBC Scotland, a cloud of gas from the platform is visible about 11 kilometers around. In addition, 23 tons of liquid gas would have escaped at sea in the last 48 hours. According to Total, it is a light condensate, which should spontaneously evaporate from the surface of the water.
Still, the group does not yet know how it will plug the leak, which would come from a well condemned twelve months ago because of "problems". “There are two options for intervening. One is to dig a relief well, which could take about six months. The other is an intervention on the platform to seal the well (...) which would be a faster option, ”David Hainsworth, safety, health and environment manager at Total Exploration & Production UK, told Reuters. "We plan to decide on a plan in the days to come," he added.
Following these remarks, the stock is in decline on the Paris Stock Exchange. To 15h30, it drops 6,3%, signing the worst performance of the CAC 40.
A fairly complete article in the world: http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2 ... _3244.html
Since Sunday March 25, Total has been unable to contain a serious gas leak on its Elgin-Franklin platform, in the North Sea. "This is the biggest incident for Total in the North Sea for at least ten years," admitted a spokesperson for the group. Thursday, March 29, the situation was "stabilized", but the leak is far from being sealed.
* What is known about this platform?
Located at 240 km east of Aberdeen (Scotland), the Elgin-Franklin platform is one of the largest installations of the French Major. More than two hundred employees worked there at the time of the accident. The platform is laid on a water depth of 93 meters, while the exploited reservoir is more than 5 kilometers under the seabed. 130 000 barrels of oil equivalent are produced daily, 2,6% of The production of Total. 60 000 barrels go to the French group, the rest to its partners, notably the Italian ENI. Total has about 20 oil rigs in the North Sea. From three main deposits (Elgin, Franklin, Alwyn), multiple adjacent fields (Jura, West Franklin, Islay ...) were exploited in order to maximize the profitability of underwater infrastructures.
* What are the peculiarities of this deposit?
"Elgin-Franklin will be a milestone in the history of the oil industry", declared Christophe de Margerie, then managing director of the exploration and production division of Total, during the presentation of the deposit in the early 2000s. And for good reason, the site concentrates technological challenges. Elgin is a so-called "HP-HT" deposit, in other words high pressure and high temperature (190 ºC). The tanks buried at 5 m are like gigantic pressure cookers. The pressure there reached 300 bars, the equivalent of a weight of over a ton on a thumbnail. In addition, gas, like condensates (very light oils), are acidic and corrosive due to high levels of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. So many constraints that Total had overcome to develop these fields in production, making "a world benchmark".
* Where does the leak come from?
After four days of searching, Total managed to locate the source of the leak on Thursday. It comes from a disused well 4 meters deep. "What we know is that the leak comes from a disused well, a well that was plugged a year ago, in a rock formation 000 meters deep," said a spokesperson.
* What solutions are envisaged to plug it?
Total indicated Thursday that it was still examining all possibilities to stop the leak. "We are still in a phase of evaluating solutions," said a spokesperson. A first solution was put forward on Tuesday, that of digging a relief well to lower the pressure of the main well. An operation that would take about six months. An intervention on the platform itself, faster and undoubtedly less expensive, seems for the moment ruled out because it exposes the lives of technicians. Finally, the most optimistic hypothesis is that the leak will stop on its own.
* Is there a risk of explosion?
On Tuesday, Total's director of health, safety and environment, David Hainsworth, admitted that an explosion risk existed. "The gas is flammable, but the power supply has been cut off on the platform to minimize the risk of sparks, however it is obvious that there is a risk," he admitted on the BBC. Especially since the flare, the high metal tower used to burn the natural gas waste is still lit. Nevertheless, "the wind pushes the gas plume in a direction opposite to that of the flare. And according to the weather forecast, it will blow in the same direction for five to six days," he added. While some experts highlight the risk of explosion if the winds change direction, Total dismissed it on Wednesday. The flare "is an integral part of the security system" and "poses no immediate risk". Thursday, if the weather conditions remained favorable, a cloud of gas was nevertheless observed within 100 meters of the still active flare.
* What means are implemented in the area?
On Monday, the British authorities decided to set up a 2 nautical maritime exclusion zone (3,7 km) around the platform and to prohibit overflight within 5,5 km, the cloud of gas could ignite at all times. On Thursday, two ships carrying fire fighting equipment took position near the platform. Another ship, with an underwater robot on board with a camera to inspect its condition, is also on site.
* Are there any risks to the environment?
"The first indications show that there is no significant impact on the environment," the group said on Tuesday. However, the leak caused the formation of a gas cloud but also an effusion of liquid, causing the formation at sea of a fine slick of hydrocarbons. Spotted by a surveillance plane, iridescence would testify to the presence of drilling mud and light products associated with gas. Quoted by the Guardian, Martin Preston, specialist in marine pollution, indicates that "the release of methane represents a very important risk of explosion", but that it is also "an acid gas", containing hydrogen sulphide, very toxic to humans and aquatic life. A very localized increase in fish mortality cannot be ruled out. "Simon Boxall, oceanographer at the University of Southampton, specifies that" the environmental damage will not be known for a week or more, when we have makes measurements to assess the level of pollutants in the water ".
* Have there been any problems with this well?
As reported by journalists from Le Monde, the Norwegian environmental association Bellona received the testimony of an official of the unions of employees working in the British offshore. The latter claims that Total had already encountered significant difficulties, and on numerous occasions, on this well. To the point of having made the decision, a few weeks ago, to try to "kill" him. Between 2009 and 2010, Elgin-Franklin had already been pinned for gas and oil leaks (spill of 4 kg of hydrocarbons in total) and security failures.
Other nearby facilities have also experienced incidents. The most serious took place on July 6, 1988 with the explosion of the Piper Alpha gas platform, which then caused the death of 167 people (62 survivors). And led to a strengthening of standards and safety instructions. But the reality is very different, as equipment failures, often dilapidated, are commonplace in the region. In 2011, according to the British security control body, safety on board was insufficient for 96% of installations in the North Sea and 20% of them showed "serious failures". At the same time, the Guardian revealed that large and dangerous oil or gas spills have followed one another for years, at the rate of one per week, and in complete discretion.