LA DEFENSE (dpa-AFX) - Total SA (TOT, TTFNF.PK, TTA.L) said Wednesday it was able to stop the G4-well gas leak at the Elgin complex in the UK North Sea, following a successful intervention program.
The French oil giant said a process of pumping heavy mud since yesterday into the leaking well helped stop the leak.
The G4-well started leaking after an incident on March 25, which led to the evacuation of 238 people from Elgin and an adjacent drilling rig, the Rowan Viking. The leak was detected during operations to seal the well that had faced problems over the past year.
The G4-well incident fortunately did not lead to an explosion, which could have set off a series of explosions at nearby drilling stations had it occurred.
Total experts along with specialist contractors will closely monitor the G4-well to confirm the complete success of the intervention.
Yves-Louis Darricarrere, 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...'
The gas leak also forced Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDS-A, RDSA.L, RDSB.L, RDS-B) to shut down and evacuate workers from Shearwater and Noble Hans Deul rigs.
TOT is trading at $44.48, up 1.95%, on a volume of 2.7 million shares on the NYSE.
At the LSE, TTA.L closed Wednesday at 34.68 pence, up 0.30%. In Paris, Total shares closed at 34.92 euros, up 1.62%, on a volume of about 11 million shares.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2012 AFX News
