(Bloomberg) — BP Plc’s Clair offshore field near the U.K.’s Shetland Islands is still shut following an oil leak.
BP, which operates the field, said it wants to be “completely certain” the technical issue that caused the leak on Oct. 2 has been resolved before restarting, so production will remain offline as it investigates.
About 95 metric tons of oil, or fewer than 700 barrels, was released into the sea from the Clair platform in a leak that lasted less than an hour, BP said in statement Monday. The field produced an average of 20,000 barrels a day in the past year, according to data from the U.K. Oil & Gas Authority.
In a statement, BP said it would most likely "allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea," but added that "contingencies for other action are being prepared."
"Oil has been observed on the sea surface and we are monitoring its movement," the statement reads. "Both direct observation and oil spill modelling indicate the oil to be moving in a northerly direction away from land."
More than 4 million barrels of oil escaped into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 following an explosion on Transocean Inc.’s Deepwater Horizon rig, which was drilling a well for BP. The London-based company’s total liability from the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history was $61.6 billion before tax.
Clair — first discovered in 1977 and brought online in 2005 — is located 75 kilometers (47 miles) west of the Shetland Islands in 150 meters (492 feet) of water, according to the BP website.
