Shell’s subsea line spilled about 90,000 gallons of oil on 90 nautical miles off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil leak was spotted near the Glider tieback system at Shell’s Brutus platform and immediately secured by the Coast Guard and the company anti-pollution teams. The production in the platform and transfers through the subsea flow line was stopped until further inspection and investigation. According to the company, the pollution was cause by subsea infrastructure, which is connecting four wells in the Green Canyon area in Gulf of Mexico. The divers will make an inspection of the pipeline and will repair the problems before restart production.

According to the local authorities and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement the oil spot has miles-long sheen. The leak was surrounded by oil booms to restrict its extension and drifting to the shore. The water cleaning equipment will be dispatched at the area to collection the spilled crude. According to the current estimates, in the water off Louisiana spilled 88,200 gallons of crude oi.

“The likely cause of the sheen is a release of oil from subsea infrastructure and in response, we have isolated the leak and shut-in production. No release is acceptable, and safety remains our highest priority as we respond to this incident”, said the spokeswoman of Shell, Kimberly Windon. “There are no drilling activities at Brutus, and this is not a well control incident. We are working with the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association to define the best approach to contain and clean up the sheen”, added she.

The Coast Guard and federal offshore safety inspectors flew over the area to assess it and are currently on location at the platform. The cause of the water pollution is still under investigation.