UK’s largest oil site shut down over ‘small fire’

THE UK’s biggest oil field has been closed following a fire on a North Sea platform, sparking fears of lasting damage to Scotland’s energy sector and the prospect of oil supplies choked off for days.

North Sea Buzzard, which pumps about 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day, has been out of action for two days and could be closed for another 48 hours.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, the convener of Holyrood’s energy committee, warned the stoppage would be damaging to the UK economy, which consumes about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day.

It comes just weeks after an uncontrolled gas leak at the Elgin rig, owned by French energy giant Total. That is thought to have been releasing gas at a rate of 200,000 cubic metres per day.

The fire, which is thought to have started following a problem with a gas compressor on the field’s newest platform, has now been extinguished.

Last night, Mr Fraser called for action to minimise the damage to the economy and to reopen the Buzzard platform as “soon as possible.”

He said: “This is the second incident in the North Sea in the space of a month when production has been adversely affected.

“The Scottish and UK economies depend heavily on the North Sea oil and gas output and it must be a concern when supply is affected in this way.”

Labour MSP Richard Baker, who represents North East Scotland, called for talks between oil and gas companies and trade unions to discuss how to improve safety in the industry.

He said: “Clearly, this is very concerning news in terms of health and safety and it’s right that the operator was pro-active in stopping production. Given this fire and the Total incident, it’s clear that health and safety in the North Sea remains a huge concern and it would be sensible for the trade unions in the industry and operators get involved in a dialogue about how the situation can be improved.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Issues of health and safety on offshore oilfields are a matter currently reserved to the UK Government, and safety is always the priority.”

A Nexen spokeswoman said: “Repairs are under way and during this maintenance period, production has been halted. We expect production will ramp up over the next 24-48 hours.”

A spokesman for the UK Health and Safety Executive said: “HSE decided there was no need to go offshore to investigate.”