Total Well Kill Planned for This Week

The chief financial officer (CFO) of Total has said that work will begin this week to complete a top kill operation on the Elgin gas leak.

Speaking to Reuters at the weekend, Patrick de La Chevardiére said the French firm would this week begin the well kill operation, which would utilise their first choice of ceasing the leak by injecting heavy mud into the well.

A diverter, installed last week, was the first step to achieving this, he said. 

Presently, he said, the company was examining a number of possibilities for the well site. One of these could see production beginning again on the well before the end of the year, he added.

"Our teams are working on several scenarios and there is a possibility that we could restart gradually sometime before the end of the year," Reuters reports him as saying. "If we take a conservative view that Elgin-Franklin does not restart before year-end then (group) 2012 production could be flat."

Mr. de La Chevardiére also told the news agency that the leak was currently costing the company a total of $3 million per day, $1.5 million of that lost income from the site and the balance the cost of the relief operation, before tax and insurance had been added.

The injection of the heavy mud is one of two options being carried out by Total. So far, work is ongoing for the drilling of the first of two relief wells, with the Sedco 714 drilling rig already in place. A second drilling rig, the Rowan Gorilla V rig, is due to be moved into place later this week.

A semi-submersible drilling rig, the West Phoenix rig, will also be moved to the site in the coming weeks to begin the relief well drilling operations.