Gas Leak Costing Total $2.5 Million a Day LONDON - Total, the French oil company, said Monday that a natural gas leak off the coast of Scotland was costing it $2.5 million a day and that it was too early to say when it could be stopped. Total said the leak, which started at its Elgin platform eight days ago, is losing the company $1.5 million a day in earnings and generating another $1 million a day in costs. The price of stopping the leak could reach $200 million if two relief wells are drilled, as is now planned. The company added that the costs were no threat to its finances, however. "We appreciate the level of concern in the market but we have ample resources to deal with the situation," Patrick de la Chevardière, Total's chief financial officer, said on a conference call with analysts and journalists. We believe the group will continue to generate ample cash flow and there is no reason to change the plans in terms of the investment program or dividends. Total discovered the gas leak at the platform in the North Sea, about 150 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland, on March 25 and evacuated all staff. A rival, Royal Dutch Shell, also evacuated some staff from a field and rig nearby. The gas is leaking from a well that Total workers were in the process of capping and abandoning. No one was injured in the incident or the evacuation. For a time, a gas flare that was burning near the gas leak prompted fears of an explosion but the flare stopped burning by itself on Saturday, Total said. The biggest impact from the gas leak might be on Total's reputation, some analysts said. Even though the effects of the gas leak on the environment and the costs for Total are expected to be just a fraction of those following the blowout of BP;s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Total would still have to regain some lost investor confidence, said Iain Reid, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. "Reputationally, this is the last thing you want to happen" so shortly after the Macondo explosion and spill, Mr. Reid said. Total's shares rose 2 percent in Paris on Monday but are down xx percent since the leak began. Mr. Reid also said that the leak occurred in one of the most difficult fields in the North Sea. "It has the highest pressure, the highest temperature," he said. They are dealing with something very difficult. Total said it still does not know why the leak started but the source is at the wellhead, in the open air, not on the ocean floor. The leaked gas - mainly methane - was dissipating in the atmosphere very quickly, Total said. "While we understand that comparisons with Macondo are inevitable, the situation is very different," Total said. There is no crude oil involved here. The leak is at the wellhead of the platform, not underwater. The company is currently preparing plans for two ways to stop the leak, it said. One is a so-called top kill operation, which involves pumping mud down the well to plug it. Total said it chartered two vessels, a boat and a rig, to help with that procedure but it was still unclear when Total workers and contractors would be allowed back on the platform to begin the work. The other way is to drill two relief wells, which the company said could take up to six months. Total is preparing to move two rigs to the area once the sea provides the right conditions, it said. "Resolving this issue is the number one priority of the senior management," Mr. de la Chevardière said.