BP said on Monday that an oil spill at one its North Sea platforms has significantly dispersed.
BP said that the most likely volume of oil to sea has been calculated from platform data at around 95 tonnes.
The company said both direct observation from surveillance flights and oil spill modelling “continue to show the oil moving in a northerly direction away from land.”
The company said its most recent surveillance flight indicated “significant dispersal of the oil at the surface” as of Monday.
The leak occurred on October 2 at about 10 a.m. at the Clair platform located about 46 miles west of the Shetland Islands.
No injuries were reported and all personnel have been accounted for.
The company has confirmed that the release was the result of a technical issue with the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas.
The release was stopped within an hour once the issue had been identified.
Production at the Clair platform was taken offline on Sunday.
“We are investigating the cause of the technical issue and the field will remain offline for the time being,” BP said on Monday.
Oil spill and environmental experts from BP, Oil Spill Response Limited and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been working together to assess any potential environmental impacts and to agree the best way to respond.
As of Monday, the company said the oil would be allowed to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action were being prepared.
