Oil which leaked from an offshore platform at the weekend appears to be moving away from land, BP has said.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon aboard the Clair platform, about 46 miles west of Shetland.

BP has reported that about 95 tonnes of oil leaked into the sea and said the spill seems to be moving north.

A fault in a system designed to separate oil, gas and water is believed to be responsible for the leak.

The Clair field will remain offline until the cause of the fault has been established, BP added.

A spokesman for the British energy giant said: “A quantity of oil in water was released to the sea from the Clair platform as a result of a technical issue with the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas.

“The release was stopped within an hour once the issue had been identified and Clair production was taken offline.

“We are investigating the cause of the technical issue and the field will remain offline until the investigation is concluded.”

He added: “At present, we believe the most appropriate response is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action are being prepared.”

Source: stv.tv