Shell Announces It Closed Leak In North Sea

- Shell Announces It Closed Leak In North Sea



Aug 19, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) announced that it has closed a valve from which oil was spilling into the North Sea.

The company said that this is a "key step" in stopping the leak at its Gannet Alpha platform, the worst North Sea oil spill in more than a decade. The company also said that it will observe the flowline to make sure the valve remains sealed.

Over 1,000 barrels of oil has spewed into the sea since a pipeline was found to be leaking August 12, according to Shell, though it claims that after closing the well.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) has a potential upside of 33.8% based on a current price of $62.67 and an average consensus analyst price target of $83.83.

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Shell Stops North Sea Pipe Leak

- Shell Stops North Sea Pipe Leak

Friday, August 19, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON
by Alexis Flynn

Shell has stopped a leak from an underwater pipe at its Gannet Alpha platform that had been spilling crude oil into the North Sea for more than a week, the Anglo-Dutch major said Friday.

"Today, Shell divers closed the relief valve from which oil had been seeping at a rate of less than one barrel a day," said Shell. "Now there will be a phase of monitoring the flowline [the pipe] to check that it remains sealed," it added.

Shell has been battling a leak at the 18-year-old installation since last Wednesday. It estimates some 218 tons of crude oil have already spilled into the sea since then, though this isn't expected to reach land. Shell and U.K. environmental authorities say they expect the oil to be naturally dispersed through wave action.

"Closing the valve is a key step," said Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell's exploration and production activities in Europe. "It was a careful and complex operation conducted by skilled divers, with support from our technical teams onshore. But we will be watching the line closely over the next 24 hours and beyond."

However, some 660 tons of residual oil remain in the depressurized pipe, which has been secured on the seabed with concrete mats. The next phase of the operation will be to remove this remaining oil from the pipe.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Royal Dutch Shell Trying to Stop Oil Leak in North Sea

- Royal Dutch Shell Trying to Stop Oil Leak in North Sea



Aug 18, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) is trying to stop an oil spill leak in the North Sea.

In the first phase of the operation to shut down the leak, engineers have lowered five giant concrete "blankets" on to a stretch of pipeline to place it back on the seabed after it lifted 4 feet off the sea floor.

Work is ongoing to lay concrete blankets to secure the pipeline, Shell spokesman Steve Harris said.

"First, we have to make a risk assessment ... to make sure that we can find a safe way to shut it off. We expect the result of the risk assessment very quickly and then divers will go down 300 feet (90 meters) and turn off the remaining amount of oil that is leaking into the sea."

Nearly 1,300 barrels of oil has leaked from its Gannet Alpha platform since August 12.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) has a potential upside of 32.6% based on a current price of $63.21 and an average consensus analyst price target of $83.83.

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Shell: Gannet Oil Leak Under Control

- Shell: Gannet Oil Leak Under Control

Monday, August 15, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Karen Boman

The oil leak on a flowline system that serves the Shell-operated Gannet Alpha platform in the North Sea has spilled an estimated 1,300 barrels, or 216 tonnes, a Shell spokesperson said. The spill remains under control, with the well shut in on Wednesday, Aug. 10 and work underway to completely halt any further oil leakage.

"This is a significant spill in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea. We care about the environment and we regret that the spill happened. We have taken it very seriously and responded promptly to it," said Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell's exploration and production activities in Europe, in a statement today.

Cayley estimates that the current rate of leaking is less than five b/d. The sheen, which also changes from day to day, is 0.5 square kilometres in size. The spill is a light crude oil with a low wax content (API-36). There is also some hydraulic fluid in present.

Cayley added, "The high winds and waves over the weekend have led to a substantial reduction in the size of the oil sheen as can be seen from the current levels on the water. We continue to expect that the oil sheen will disperse naturally due to wave action and that it will not reach the shore."

Personnel on the platform are safe and the platform continues to operate. A standby vessel, Grampian Prince, remains on station monitoring the area, with oil spill response equipment and dispersant available if required. Shell's emergency response team remains in place and is working with the relevant authorities (DECC, MCA, Marine Scotland, Scottish Government) to manage the incident and minimize its environmental impact.

"We are also in contact with RSPB and other environmental agencies. We will be sharing our latest estimates with them as well as what we know about the nature of the oil, and the monitoring of wildlife," said Cayley.

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said its environmental inspectors will continue to monitor the situation and have been working closely with the company and counterparts from the Health and Safety Executive, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Marine Scotland since the spill was reported last week.

"Although small in comparison to the Macondo, Gulf of Mexico, incident, in the context of the UK Continental Shelf the spill is substantial – but it is not anticipated that oil will reach the shore and indeed it is expected that it will be dispersed naturally.

"The UK Continental Shelf oil spill record is strong which is why it is disappointing that this spill has happened. We take any spill very seriously and we will be investigating the causes of the spill and learning any lessons from the response to it."

The Gannet field is in the Central North Sea around 112 miles (180 km) east of Aberdeen. It is operated by Shell U.K. Limited on behalf of itself and Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited.

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Shell: 1,300 Barrels of Oil Spilled from North Sea Leak

- Shell: 1,300 Barrels of Oil Spilled from North Sea Leak

Monday, August 15, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDO
by Alexis Flynn

Around 1,300 barrels of oil are estimated to have spilled into the U.K. North Sea from a leaking pipeline at a Shell platform since last Wednesday, the Anglo-Dutch major said Monday.

"It isn't easy to quantify the total volume spilled but we estimate so far that it is around 216 tons [1,300 barrels]," said Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell's exploration and production activities in Europe.

The current rate of leaking is less than five barrels a day, Shell said.

Shell said the volume of oil at the sea surface is estimated at around one ton, or around six barrels. Wave action and high winds over the weekend have led to a "substantial" reduction in the size of the visible oil sheen, Cayley said.

"This is a significant spill in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea," said Cayley. "We care about the environment and we regret that the spill happened. We have taken it very seriously and responded promptly to it."

An undersea pipe at the Gannet Alpha platform has been leaking oil into the ocean since last Wednesday. Shell said the leak is "under control" and that the well that feeds the pipeline, shut in since Wednesday, remains closed.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said that while the spill was small in comparison with BP's Gulf of Mexico accident last year, it was "substantial" in the context of the U.K. continental shelf. DECC said its environmental inspectors will continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the company and counterparts from the Health and Safety Executive, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Marine Scotland.

The size of the sea surface affected is estimated to be some 31 kilometers by 4.3 kilometers at its widest point. A sheen, estimated at 0.5 kilometers in size, is currently moving west from the field.

The platform is located 180 kilometers east of Aberdeen, Scotland. Shell operates the platform along with partner ExxonMobil's U.K. unit Esso.

Oil from the Gannet system is taken to Teesside, U.K., through the Fulmar pipeline as part of Ekofisk blend. Production at the facility is estimated to be around 6,000 barrels a day, according to a trader.

The platform had 10 leak incidents in 2009 and 2010, according to an HSE document showing voluntarily declared spills. Only one of the incidents was described as "significant" while the others were logged as "minor."

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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