Elgin flare naturally extinguished, says Hendry

Energy minister Charles Hendry confirmed on Saturday 31 March that Total UK has announced that the flare on the Elgin platform has "naturally extinguished itself". He said effort must now be made to locate and stop the gas leak and confirmed the government will continue to monitor the situation very closely. Total UK reported on 29 March that the leak was coming from an above water level of the platform, and that it was believed a failure in the well had caused gas to enter a part of the infrastructure not designed to contain it. On the previous day the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published Total UK's offshore oil pollution emergency plan (OPEP) for the Central Graben Area that covers the Elgin gas field. The pollution response document details the procedures to follow in the event of an oil pollution incident.
DECC--Hendry announcement     DECC--Total's OPEP