North Sea Rig Spews Gas as Total Weighs Options to Stem Leak
This article is for subscribers only.
Total SA’s Elgin platform leaked natural gas for a fourth day as France’s largest oil producer weighed options for getting a damaged well under control.
Total shares fell and the cost of insuring the company’s debt jumped as it offered no update on plans to stop the leak. Total said yesterday it may need to drill an emergency well to cut off the gas flow under the sea bed, an operation that will probably take about six months. A U.K. trade union called for more workers to be evacuated from nearby North Sea platforms because of the risk of a blast.