Oil spill and environmental experts from BP, Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have been working together to assess any potential environmental impacts.
It is considered that the most appropriate response remains to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action have been prepared and are available, if required.
Five surveillance flights have so far been deployed to monitor the release with a further three today [Tuesday, 4th October]. The latest surveillance data suggests the total volume of oil remaining on the sea surface to be less than one cubic metre which indicates significant evaporation and dispersion already.
Initial conclusions from our environmental assessment work, which looks at local seabird, cetacean and fish populations, indicates that the impact of the release is likely to be minimal.
The incident on Sunday [2nd October 2016] happened at approximately 10am when a quantity of oil in water was released to the sea from the platform. This was as a result of a technical issue with the system which separates the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas.
We are investigating the cause of the technical issue and the field will remain offline for the time being.
The most likely volume of oil to sea has been calculated from platform data at around 95 tonnes.
The Clair platform is located 75 kilometres west of the Shetland Islands.