Total Chief Hopes to Re-Start Elgin Soon

French oil major Total hopes to restart the Elgin gas field in the North Sea "in the coming days or weeks," chief executive Christophe de Margerie has said.

The field was struck by a large leak in March last year, requiring evacuation of all personnel and suspension of work.

Reuters cited the French supermajor's chief executive Christophe de Margerie as giving the update on the Elgin-Franklin field during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

Last year's leak at the G4 wellled to an evacuation from a number of facilities in the area. The leak was not stopped until May after a successful top kill operation.

Total had originally been hopeful that the field would be up and running before the end of 2012 but later earmarked early 2013.

"It's true we hoped we could restart it before the end of 2012," De Margerie was reported saying on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. He said discussions about security were "going well" with the UK's Health and Safety Executive. "I hope we can restart in the coming days or weeks," De Margerie said.

In early November Total chartered the Prosafe accommodation unit Safe Bristolia for use on the field for a firm period of 173 days in a deal worth €40 million. On-site operations were then planned to begin in May.

Total has put the cost of the leak at around €260 million.

Elgin-Franklin is one of the biggest producing UK North Sea natural gas fields. Before the incident, it produced about 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2011, according to Total figures.