BP fined £7,000 over crude oil spill off Shetland

The platform is 75km (46 miles) from Shetland

BP has been fined £7,000 over an oil spill during which 95 tonnes of crude oil was discharged off Shetland.

Investigators found that a "process failure" led to the incident at the Clair Platform in October 2016.

The platform is located 75km (46 miles) west of Shetland.

The oil company said it had "regrettably" fallen short of its "high standards", and that the incident "should not have happened."

At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, BP admitted regulatory failings which led to the oil discharge.

The incident was investigated by the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Starting production

It concluded that the discharge had not been allowed under the terms of the BEIS permit which had been granted to BP.

A written procedure had been drawn up by BP as it prepared to start production from a newly-drilled well at Clair.

The investigation found that regular water sampling should have been in place and the results fed back to the control room.

However, the written procedure was not specific on when results should be provided, or when the control room should request late results.

As a result, a "significant amount" of crude oil was discharged.

'Improved procedures'

Alistair Duncan, head of the Crown Office's health and safety investigation unit, said: "The lack of sufficiently robust procedures could have had a significant environmental impact, had these issues not been addressed.

"Thankfully there was no significant impact to the environment as a result of this incident and the company has introduced improved procedures since then."

BP said it had carried out a "thorough investigation" after this incident and applied lessons which had been learned.

"We remain as committed as ever to maintaining safe and reliable operations across our business," it said.