BSEE confirms sea-floor seep

Seep: source of sheen spotted in US Gulf confirmed to be natural

Shell

related stories

Luke Johnson

 16 April 2012 21:49 GMT

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) confirmed on Monday that a “modest” amount of oil is seeping from the sea floor near a Shell-operated field in the Gulf of Mexico.

BSEE and the US Coast Guard had said previously that a seep on the ocean floor was “likely” the cause of a 10-square-mile oil sheen spotted near the supermajor’s Mars and Ursa production platforms.

“BSEE, along with natural seeps experts from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, viewed videotape from a remote operated vehicle survey deployed by Shell to make the final determination confirming the ongoing release of oil from the natural seep,” BSEE said in a statement on Monday.

The Coast Guard said on Thursday that the sheen was dissipating.

Shell had earlier…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index