Total Works to Plug North Sea Leak, Considering a Relief Well

摘要

Total said Thursday that the gas leak at its Elgin field in the North Sea is coming from "deck level on the wellhead platform" and not from the seabed. The French energy giant is still assessing three options for tackling the leak of gas, which it now says originates from a rock formation about 13,100 feet below the seabed, above the main Elgin reservoir. The first is to wait for it to stop on its own; the second is to send an expert team to the Elgin platform to use drilling mud to "kill" the well; and the third is to drill a relief well using its Rowan Gorilla V jackup rig, which is already working for Total in the area. A company spokesman said a relief well would take up to six months.