The flow of oil from the worst spill in UK waters in the past decade, at one of Shell's North Sea platforms, has been "greatly reduced" but not yet stopped completely, the government said on Monday.
Conservationists warned that the leak could harm bird life in the area, at a delicate time in their development, as the oil company worked to minimise the damage.
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "We know oil of any amount, if in the wrong place, at the wrong time, can have a devastating impact on marine life. Currently thousands of young auks – razorbills, puffins and guillemots – are flightless and dispersing widely in the North Sea during late summer. So they could be at serious risk if contaminated by this spill."
Greenpeace criticised Shell for not being sufficiently open about the progress of the spill, which was first discovered on Wednesday but not announced publicly by the company until Friday.
Shell said on Monday that it could not quantify the volume of oil spilled so far, but put it at 1,300 barrels, with a residual leak of about 5 barrels a day that has still to be stopped. Last year's BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico was estimated to be spilling up to 70,000 barrels a day. Shell said it could not predict when the leak would be halted completely.
The oil on the sea surface is estimated at under half a square mile at present. "The high winds and waves over the weekend have led to a substantial reduction in the size of the oil sheen as can be seen from the current levels on the water," said Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell's exploration and production activities in Europe. "This is a significant spill in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea. We care about the environment and we regret that the spill happened. We have taken it very seriously and responded promptly to it."
Green campaigners said the incident raised questions over the safety of oil companies' plans to drill in deep water in the Arctic, as the North Sea is generally supposed to be the safest in the world in terms of spills. Ben Ayliffe of Greenpeace, which has been campaigning to stop further oil-drilling exploration in delicate environments such as the Arctic, said: "The North Sea is supposed to be ultra-safe – we are told spills can't happen there. Shell is looking to move into the Arctic where an oil spill would all but impossible to clean up. Events in the North Sea should give the company pause for thought."
However, government advisers took the view that the risk to bird life would be small as the oil is unlikely to reach shore. The Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "Shell has informed us that the oil leak at its pipeline at the Gannet Alpha platform east of Aberdeen is under control and has now been greatly reduced. They are working to completely halt any further leakage. Although small in comparison to the Macondo incident [at one of BP's platforms in the Gulf of Mexico last year], in the context of the UK's continental shelf the spill is substantial – but it is not anticipated that oil will reach the shore and it is expected that it will be dispersed naturally."
Shell is using remotely operated vehicles to stop the remaining leak and to monitor the effects. A standby vessel, "Grampian Prince", is also monitoring the area, and is equipped with oil spill response equipment and dispersant, should that be required. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are making twice daily flights to monitor the spill.
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Riots, greedy elitism as relentless global economic crises, one environmental disaster after another, war, famine, despair ...
Those Rapture folk might have a point!
I'll have another glass of contaminated water please.
The system in the North Sea is old it was going to be updated then the government wrecked that with tax increases these spills are liable to become more common in this case it appears a flow line leak which isn't too bad easy enough to contain if the systems in question are functional.
This is traditionally 'silly season' for news, but it hasn't been at all, it's been downright depressing and tragic.
It's not all bad, though, holzy. There's always a point.
or a reason to be cheerful, in any case ;o)
Just a quick question. I read a lot about the exploitation of certain country's mineral resources by the West and BRIC, where corruption of some kind is used with the party in power and which gives nothing back to the peoples of that land.
Could somebody explain to me how, as a UK citizen, I benefit from North Sea Oil/Gas? Are the companies in that field buying cheap licences to drill and giving all the benefits to the shareholders? Are we being exploited just a much as some Chilean farmer? I'm just curious.
Is that a strategy?
Could be since it's quite similar to economic and social strategies.
A bit like a teenager's strategy for avoiding homework.
So they estimate "several hundred tonnes". Who'd like to bet that eventually we're told it was "several thousand tonnes".
Sick sick sick. Capitalism is sick! Of course it's a problem for Shell, they lose money and shareholders think of growth. The kind of growth you really need to be thinking about is that of sea-life, humble fishermen and the risk nature, including humans, live in because of your deadly pursuit for profit.
And they wonder why many oppose deep water drilling in the Arctic, thousands of miles from major facilities, in some of the coldest but most productive seas on earth. Insanity.
So the same stratagy for Oil Spills as Riots
The UK strategy for dealing with an oil spill is to wait and see how it behaves.
KingOfMyCastle -
Major employers in heavy industry and technical skills which are transferable to other work. Huge training schemes providing large numbers of people skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Large quantities of tax revenue to the point where oil companies will no longer invest and are shedding jobs because it becomes less profitable. The livelihoods and lives of whole communities are dependent on oil and our wider shipping and maritime industry is reliant on the training and skills the oil companies install as a base. Ow and of course it is the energy companies involved in oil production who are the main investors and producers of renewables providing the nation with a secure future and keeping the energy supply on.
If they are it is only because they are helping it become a self-fufilling prophesy...
@cbarr
Thanks. That does sound like you've put a positive spin on it but thanks for filling in a load of holes for me.
I've a suggestion. Let's not look for oil, let's all just live in the cold and dark...
So what are the government going to do about this bunch of vandals, then?
Bang them up in jail?
Evict their mums from their homes?
cbarr
But maintenance costs are charged before tax is calculated. It's the dividends, which are calculated after tax, that should be reduced there instead of environmental safety. If the tax rises caused them to cut back on maintenance then that is exactly what has happened
This is the problem with our requirement to place shareholder needs above other stakeholders.
whizgiggle - It isn't just maintenance costs though its the need for massive installments of new and modern systems and the requirement to obtain and install the new equipment and drilling systems. Every hour you are offline costs money and every hour of a workers time costs money and the new systems and new platforms will cost money not all of which can be offset under maintenance lots of the fields are coming to end of life investing in new fields is the only way to keep the North Sea operating oil is a global business the money flows to the best and most secure profit. What the government did didn't just hamper this profit but also puts a giant question mark of the economic stability of the oil industry in the UK and the way in which the government sees the industry with oil companies being guaranteed before the budget they shouldn't expect and major shocks the massive rise and the creation of a windfall tax was a major shock the stability of oil investment was put at risk in the UK as a result.
decarb anyone?
But I hear Tesco's are still committed to a 1p reduction in petrol prices.
Hooray!
And somehow it went from being a minor spill to worst for a decade,
shell spokesperson:
"The UK continental shelf oil spill record is strong, which is why it is disappointing that this spill has happened. We take any spill very seriously and we will be investigating the causes of the spill and learning any lessons from the response to it."
right!!
"We're going to wait and see how it behaves..."
Really, cos I can tell you from here. It's like a shitload of oil in the sea where it shouldn't be.
What you probably meant to say is "We're going to not say anything and hope no-one pays it much attention".
jameson007 - What do you want them to say the spills controlled and is in a body of water that is liable to disperse it without too many issues the spill record in the North Sea is excellent in recent history and they are unlikely to say "Mwhahahaha die birds and fish die" like environmentalists seem to believe the oil industry works. Every spill is lost profit and lost time as well as bad publicly oil companies have a lot to loose if they don't maintain good safety record.
Big Corporations - small penalties.