Gas continues to leak from Total's North Sea well A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said that the incident took place "during work to plug and abandon the well, which was no longer producing gas." He added: "Total has now shut in all wells but remote monitoring has revealed that gas continues to be released." The Elgin platform is a high-pressure, high-temperature installation that also produced gas condensate, a light substance more akin to petrol than crude oil, which is not produced there. Aerial surveillance yesterday morning revealed a sheen on the surface of the water, which DECC said was believed to be between 2 tonnes (15 barrels) and 23.5 tonnes of gas condensate. It added that gas condensate "typically disperses naturally to the atmosphere within hours of release," meaning there was "no indication of a risk of significant pollution to the environment." Total said it could only confirm that there was a gas leak. It was unable to confirm the origin of the condensate. An aircraft carrying dispersant was on standby should it be required to break up the sheen. Malcolm Graham-Wood, oil analyst at VSA Capital, said that "fears of an explosion after a well control incident are real." The shutdown at Elgin saw British gas prices for day ahead delivery rise 5pc. A blowout on BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 led to an explosion that resulted in the deaths of 11 men and caused a massive oil spill. On Monday BP began drilling its controversial deepwater well at North Uist, West of Shetland. Elgin facts Location 149 miles east of Aberdeen Water depth 305ft Discovered 1991 Estimated recoverable reserves 650bn cubic feet of gas; 148.5m barrels of condensate Platform Production/utilities/quarters platform, 300ft bridge connecting to wellhead platform; pile founded, jack-up legs Size Triangle, 337ft each side Accommodation 97 beds Manning 65-70 (base figure) Emergency equipment 4 x 42 man lifeboats; 5 x 25 man liferafts