200 workers flown off North Sea rig after gas leak

TWO North Sea platforms have been evacuated after a gas leak 160 miles off the Aberdeen coast. More than 200 offshore oil workers were flown to safety after the leak at the Elgin field.

Operators Total E&P UK said the leak was caused by a well control problem on the wellhead platform and they were working to resolve the situation “as quickly as possible”.

They said all staff had been accounted for and no-one had been injured.

Total has chartered an aircraft to carry out aerial surveillance of the platform and surrounding area as soon as it is safe. Aberdeen coastguard co- ordinated the evacuation of 211 non-essential personnel from the Elgin and Rowan Viking platforms while engineers tried to contain the leak last night.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it was monitoring the situation.

Aberdeen coastguard watch manager Kevin Brown said: “Emergency procedures have been activated. We are working closely with Total E&P UK. Work is ongoing to control the release.”

It is not thought that the gas leak will have a big impact on the environment, but the decision to evacuate staff came amid health and safety concerns.

Total E&P UK last night said: “Emergency procedures are focusing on the welfare of personnel involved and in resolving the current situation as quickly as possible.”

A DECC spokesman DECC said: “Total have identified a sheen on the sea surface which has been attributed to the incident. Operations on these installations are gas condensate and not oil.

“Total have initiated incident response procedures to confirm the source of the release.”