A spill of 95 tonnes of oil from the BP Clair platform in the North Sea is being allowed to disperse naturally.
Production at the platform, about 50 miles west of the Shetland Islands, has been halted since the incident which took place on Sunday as a result of a technical issue with the system designed to separate the mixed production fluids of water, oil and gas.
The UK Dept of Business and Energy said it would hold an investigation to determine the cause of the incident, which is a standard procedure.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices also drifted today after Brent crude hit $50-barrel as traders weighed a strong dollar against OPEC’s possible first planned output cut in eight years.