North Sea accident may become global

The accident at a Total platform in the North Sea last week may cause methane emissions and oil spills, head of the Greenpeace economic program in Russia Vladimir Chuprov said, RIA Novosti reports.

The accident at the Elgin platform 240 km away from Aberdeen happened last Sunday. 238 workers of Total were evacuated. About 11 square kilometers were polluted. Major methane emissions occurred, which is 20 times more hazardous than CO2. About 800,000 tons of CO2 equivalent may be emitted in half a year at this rate, comparable with hundreds of thousands of cars annually.

Shtokman Development AG postponed making of the final investment decision to late March, although it was planned in late 2011. Gazprom owns 51% of the project. Total (France) owns 25%, Statoil (Norway) owns 24%.