Total’s Elgin G4 well has now been fully cemented in and the firm is working towards bringing the platform back into production, an event will hear in Aberdeen this week.
Total’s technical service director Jean-Claude Choux will be speaking about the Elgin leak at a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) talk tomorrow night.
The leak started on March 25 this year and led to the evacuation of all 238 workers from the platform and nearby Rowan Viking drilling rig 150 miles off Aberdeen.
It was not stopped until May and final plugging of the well using cement was completed late last month.
Mr Choux will focus on the steps Total took to plug the well, including the “top kill” using heavy mud and drilling a relief well.
He said: “The Elgin G4 gas leak was a major event in the north-east oil and gas industry and we continue to work with authorities on the ongoing investigations, so that we can learn from this experience and plan the way forward to resume production.”
A spokesman for Total told the Press and Journal that work to restart production as soon as possible was under way. Total bosses had said production could restart by the year-end, but added more recently this would now likely be early next year.
The high level of activity in the energy industry is being reflected in increased interest for this year’s Offshore Achievement Awards.
Inquiries for the significant contribution award are said to be much higher than last year after the category was widened.
The awards, relaunched in 2011 by the SPE’s Aberdeen section, will be open for entries until Saturday, December 1. The 27th award ceremony takes place on Thursday, March 21, at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
