The source of a leak that spilled 2100 bbl (88,200 gallons) of crude oil into the US Gulf of Mexico around Shell's Glider field has been identified, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced on 13 May.
On-site investigators performed an initial damage assessment of the subsea infrastructure for the Glider field and indentified a segment of subsea flowline as the source for the hydrocarbon release. BSEE said it will now review all repair plans prepared by Shell.
On Thursday, 12 May, Shell shut-in production from all wells to Shell's Brutus tension leg platform (TLP) in the US Gulf of Mexico after the crude oil spill wa reported near the Glider field.
On May 15, the US Coast Guard reported that approximately 51,000 gallons of oily-water mixture has been recovered by five on-water recovery vessels.
When the leak was first observed on 12 May, BSEE and Shell reported that approximately 2100 bbl of crude oil leaked from four subsea wells at the near the Glider subsea tieback system in Green Canyon block 248. The production from these four wells flow through a subsea manifold to Shell's Brutus platform, which sits in 2900ft of water. BSEE says a 2mi x 13mi was observed, approximately 97mi south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.
A Shell spokesman told OE on 12 May that the likely cause of the sheen is a release of oil from subsea infrastructure. “In response, Shell has isolated the leak and shut-in production at both fields,” he says. “There are no drilling activities at Brutus, and this is not a well control incident.
“Shell is determining the exact cause of the release by inspecting the subsea equipment and flowlines in the Glider field.
“No release is acceptable, and safety remains our priority as we respond to this incident,” he said.
BSEE and Shell said that there were no injuries. Shell said that it notified all appropriate authorities and mobilized response vessels, including aircraft, in the event the discharge is recoverable.
BSEE and the US Coast Guard are monitoring the incident.
The Glider field was discovered in 1996 and was brought online in 2004. A press release from that year noted that the Glider subsea system ties back approximately 7m to Brutus via a single 6in buried and insulated flowline. The eight-slot Brutus TLP, which sits 165mi southwest of Louisiana, has been in production since 2001. According to a press release from that year, the Brutus TLP was Shell's first deepwater platform to be specifically designed to serve as a hub for future subsea developments in the surrounding area.
Image: Brutus during dockside integration. Photo from Gulf Island Fabrication.
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