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Work to stem Elgin gas release begins

TOTAL has informed the Department of Energy and Climate Change that their dynamic kill operation to try to stop the gas release from the Elgin…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

TOTAL has informed the Department of Energy and Climate Change that their dynamic kill operation to try to stop the gas release from the Elgin well began this morning.

DECC have been working closely with TOTAL and gave environmental consent to the company earlier in May to pump heavy mud into the well via a temporary pipeline connected to the G4 wellhead from the main support vessel, the West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig.

It is expected the pumping operation followed by a period of monitoring could take several days depending on conditions.

The dynamic kill is the quickest option to control the release. Work on another option to drill a relief well is already underway.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: “We continue to monitor the situation closely and hope this operation successfully stops the gas release.”

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Published 15 May 2012