LONDON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Government authorities were notified Wednesday of an oil spill in the North Sea, a technical director at Royal Dutch Shell declared.
Shell is under fire for waiting two days before issuing public statements about a spill from its Gannet Alpha platform in the North Sea.
Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell's exploration activities in Europe, told the BBC's Radio 4 that government authorities were notified of the leak immediately after it was discovered Wednesday.
Asked why his company waited until Friday to issue a public statement on the spill, Cayley said nobody was sure what had happened and where.
He blamed a complex web of subsea infrastructure for hampering initial investigations, noting a "detailed investigation" was forthcoming. He said he wouldn't speculate about what caused the accident, however.
Initial estimates suggested about 1,300 barrels of oil spilled from the platform. Rough seas dispersed much of the sheen and there was little chance any oil would make it to shore, Cayley added.
"This is a significant spill in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea," he said, adding his company "regrets" the accident took place.
Oil continues to leak from the platform at a rate of about five barrels per day. It's the worst spill in the North Sea in decades.
The British government's Department of Energy and Climate Change didn't publish an official statement on the spill until Monday.
