North Sea Brent oil pipeline resumes flow

A North Sea oil pipeline has resumed shipping after an earlier leak at an offshore platform led to the pipeline being shut down.

The 80 000 bpd Brent pipeline was closed as a precaution by Taqa, also known as Abu Dhabi National Energy, which operates the Cormorant Alpha platform where the oil leak was discovered.

Currently, work is underway to stop the leak inside one of the platform's legs. Taqa has confirmed the leak is contained and that nothing leaked into the sea. The company also removed non-essential workers from the Cormorant Alpha, which is situated approximately 94 miles off the coast of Shetland, as a safety measure.

The act of shutting down the platform affected the whole Brent pipeline system in the North Sea, as the platform is a crucial pumping station. It is understood that eight other platforms servicing up to 27 oilfields were also shut down.

The offshore industry body, Oil and Gas UK, commented that oil transported through the Brent pipeline system represents 10% of the UK's North Sea oil production.

A Taqa spokesperson stated: "Investigations have found there is no connection between the Brent pipeline system and the pipeline involved in the release. The process of restarting Brent throughput follows a thorough technical evaluation that shows it is safe to do so without any increased risk to Cormorant Alpha. The hydrocarbons released are contained within the platform leg and none have been released into the environment."

The Scottish government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing said: "The Scottish government, including Marine Scotland, are monitoring this situation closely."

Edited from various sources by Cecilia Rehn.

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