French energy company Total has begun plans to stop a gas leak at its Elgin platform in the North Sea and to extinguish a flare burning nearby that posed the threat of explosion, a company official said Friday.

Philippe Guys, managing director of Total's British exploration arm, told reporters in Aberdeen, Scotland that the company was launching two main actions that were "progressing in parallel."

"The first is to carry out the well kill operation using a floating support," he said, describing a process in which mud would be pumped into the well at a high pressure. "The second is to drill two relief wells. To that end we have suspended operations on two of our drilling rigs to make them available for work on the relief wells."

Long process to stop leak

The Elgin platform sprung a gas leak on Sunday, forcing Total to evacuate all of its 238 staff on site. British Energy Minister Charles Hendry praised the firm's handling of the evacuation, saying all staff were off the platform within three and a half hours. He added, however, that stopping the leak could take a long time.

"The issues that can be addressed quickly will be addressed quickly," he said.

Total said Thursday that it had discovered the source of the gas leak - another well that had been plugged a year ago, as well as a rock formation about 4,000 meters (4,374 yards) below the sea.

A nearby flare left burning to rid the area of excess gas had initially sparked fears of an explosion, but company officials said wind was blowing the leaking gas in the opposite direction, and that aerial surveillance showed the flare had apparently diminished in size. Total has said it is considering dropping water from a helicopter to extinguish the flare completely.

Total's stock prices have dropped some eight percent since the start of the leak, amounting to a loss of about eight billion euros ($10 billion) in value.

acb/msh (AFP, Reuters)