Total Spuds First Elgin Relief Well
Total has confirmed that it has spudded its first relief well on at the Elgin gas leak site in a Tweet today.
"Drilling rig Sedco 714 has spudded the first relief well as part of the operation to stop the Elgin G4 gas leak," the company said on Twitter earlier.
This is the first of two relief wells planned for the Elgin gas leak. The second, to be performed by the Rowan Gorilla V well, has yet to begin activity. No additional details have as yet been released by Total nor has any expected completion date been released.
The gas leak, which began on the 25th of March, caused 238 of Total's staff to be evacuated from the site as well as personnel from Shell's nearby Shearwater platform. As a precautionary measure, both operators completely shut down both rigs.
The spudding of the relief well is another milestone in the ceasing of the leak which comes in addition to positive news from the Scottish government.
The government today announced that no contamination had been found in water and sediment samples taken two miles from the Elgin leak site. Following analysis on the samples by the Marine Scotland Science laboratory, the government says there is no pollution from the leak. While the samples tested positively for oil-based hydrocarbons, the government said this contamination was most likely due to shipping or other industrial activities in the UK North Sea.
"I’m pleased that chemical analysis of water and sediment samples is now available, which adds to the sensory fish testing work completed last week," Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said. "All data gathered to date continues to demonstrate that the effects on the marine environment of the Elgin gas leak are so far minimal.
“However, as the leak is ongoing, we must remain vigilant and I’ve asked Marine Scotland to continue to play a full part in assessing the situation, including further environmental monitoring... We will continue our monitoring activities for the duration of this incident, and respond to any developments as needed.
"Stopping the gas flow is of course the priority and Total's efforts to resolve the problem are ongoing. We continue to hope this incident can be resolved as quickly and safely as possible."
The results build on positive results released last week which showed no initial contamination of fish samples taken from around the Elgin site. Sensory testing showed no traces of gas contamination. Full chemical analysis on the samples is set to be released sometime next week.