Elgin platform gas leak stopped

Total said the leak was stopped 12 hours after heavy mud was pumped into the well yesterday.

The gas leak started on March 25, leading to the evacuation of all 238 staff. At one point about 200,000 cubic metres of gas was leaking every day but this was said to have been reduced by two-thirds when workers started drilling a relief well last month.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change gave Total approval earlier this month to carry out the ‘kill’ operation to stop the leak.

Total said experts would continue to monitor the well in the coming days to confirm the intervention's "complete success".

Yves-Louis Darricarrere, Total's president of exploration and production, said: "Today a major turning point has been achieved. Our absolute priority was to stop the gas leak safely and as quickly as possible.

"Since March 25 we have been working closely with the authorities and we have communicated transparently and will continue to do so.

"We shall now fully complete the ongoing task and take into account the lessons learnt from this incident."