Elgin no Macondo, Total says ABERDEEN, Scotland, April 3 (UPI) -- The situation at the Elgin platform off the coast of Scotland is "very different" from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a Total executive said. Total announced plans to pump drilling mud on a well leaking natural gas in the North Sea and drill two relief wells below its Elgin platform. The Elgin platform in the North Sea was evacuated after Total confirmed a significant natural gas leak about 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen last week. Total said natural gas was leaking from a rock formation a few thousand feet above the main reservoir, which is 18,000 feet under water. Total Senior Vice President Michel Hourcard was quoted by The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London as saying "killing" the well would be "a relatively easy job." A flare high above the surface of the ocean went out last weekend, eliminating the risk of a major natural gas explosion. Total said it estimated it was losing millions of dollars per day in earnings and the relief well could cost at least $150 million. Total Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said comparisons with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 were unfounded. "We understand that comparisons to Macondo are inevitable but the situations are very different," he said, referring to BP's failed well.