Regulatory News:
TOTAL (Paris:FP) (LSE:TTA) (NYSE:TOT) is today able to announce that a
well intervention operation has stopped the G4 well leak on the Elgin
complex, 240km from Aberdeen in the UK North Sea. The well intervention
operation, which involved pumping heavy mud into the leaking well, began
on May 15th and the leak was stopped 12 hours later. The G4 well had
been leaking following an incident on March 25, which led to 238 people
being quickly and safely evacuated from Elgin and an adjacent drilling
rig, the Rowan Viking. From an estimated initial gas flow rate of around
2 kg/second, the leak had progressively decreased to an estimated 0.5
kg/s.
Since the beginning of the incident, experts from Total and specialist
contractors have been working to stop the leak. During the coming days,
these teams will closely monitor the G4 well in order to confirm the
complete success of the intervention.
Speaking about the Elgin situation, Yves-Louis Darricarrère, Total’s
President of Exploration & 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 25th, 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.”
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Total is one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in the
world, with activities in more than 130 countries. The Group is also a
first rank player in chemicals. Its 93,000 employees put their expertise
to work in every part of the industry – exploration and production of
oil and natural gas, refining and marketing, new energies, trading, and
chemicals. Total is working to help satisfy the global demand for
energy, both today and tomorrow. www.total.com
