Source of gas leak found

French energy company Total has identified the source of a gas leak in the North Sea at its Elgin platform off the coast of Scotland, the company said Thursday, but it has not yet figured out a way to stop the leak.

A Total spokeswoman in Aberdeen, Scotland said the leak is from another well that had been plugged a year ago, as well as from a rock formation about 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) below the sea. The Elgin gas platform is in water less than 100 meters deep, indicating the leak is far underground.

The company said it had sent fire-fighting ships to the scene of the leak in case of an explosion. A flare was left burning less than 100 meters from the leakage site to remove any excess gas around the platform, posing the threat of an explosion. However Total said favorable wind conditions made that threat unlikely, and that the flare should burn out on its own in a few days.

Finding the source of the leak is crucial to repairing it, engineers say, but Total has not yet developed a strategy to stop the flow of gas. The company said Tuesday this could take six months.

The leak started on Sunday and forced the company to evacuate all the 238 employees working on the platform.

Both Total and British authorities have said they expect the environmental damage from the leak to be "minimal," but experts in environmental pollution say much of the mix of gases could be either flammable or poisonous, meaning approaching the site could be difficult.

The leak has caused Total's shares to drop about 9 percent in value over the five days since the leak materialized.

acb/msh (AFP, Reuters)