Taqa restarts North Sea pipeline system

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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The flow of crude oil through the Brent pipeline system in the North Sea has restarted following a precautionary shutdown Monday, an oil company said.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., known also as Taqa, announced that it restarted the pipeline system, which closed Monday after the discovery of hydrocarbons leaking from a leg of the Cormorant Alpha platform in the North Sea.

"The Cormorant Alpha platform normally handles about 90,000 barrels per day of crude oil feeding the Brent pipeline system, including approximately 10,000 bpd of Cormorant Alpha production," the company explained in a statement. "Crude oil flows in the Brent pipeline system are expected to rise to approximately 80,000 bpd as other platforms in the Brent system return to normal operations."

Oil production, however, is halted while engineers continue their work on the platform leg. Any hydrocarbons spilled are contained within the leg and there's been no sheen observed, the company said.

There were no injuries reported on the North Sea platform.