By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, April 9, 3:38 PM
PARIS Oil giant Total has moved to reassure investors and environmental activists over the past week that the financial and environmental damage from its gas leak in the North Sea would be limited, a task made more difficult by comparisons to BPs handling of a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico nearly two years ago. Initial data showed that the leak from Totals platform in the Elgin gas field 150 miles (250 kilometers) off the coast of Scotland which was first detected March 25 was pouring out about 7 million cubic feet (200,000 cubic meters) of natural gas each day. On Friday, the company said the rate of the leak appeared to have slowed but had no new figure.In a conference call to analysts and reporters last week, Total Chief Financial Officer Patrick de La Chevardiere appealed to those listening to avoid comparisons between the Elgin leak and the Gulf spill at BPs Macondo well.
While we understand that comparisons to Macondo are inevitable, we would like to state clearly that the situations are very different, he said. There is no crude oil involved here and therefore the current impact on and risks for the environment are relatively low.