Gallons Of Oil Leaked From Shell Pipeline

Nearly 90,000 gallons of oil have leaked from a Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) pipeline into the Gulf of Mexico about 90 miles off the Louisiana coast, the US Coast Guard has said.

Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash said the leak had been secured and cleanup crews would be dispatched to the area.

Shell spokeswoman Kimberly Windon said in a statement that a helicopter spotted an oil sheen near the Glider subsea tieback system at the company's Brutus platform shortly before 8am on Thursday.

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) said: "There are no drilling activities at Brutus, and this is not a well control incident."

Officials are investigating the cause of the leak, but Ms Windon said it was likely to have been caused by the release of oil from the subsea infrastructure.

The oil apparently leaked from a line connecting four wells in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico to the platform, and has left a miles-long sheen.

The Bureau of Safety (Shanghai: 603028.SS - news) and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said there had been no reports of injuries.

Shell Offshore reported the spill and shut the wells flowing into the line.

Ms Windon added: "We are working with the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association to define the best approach to contain and clean up the sheen."

About 88,200 gallons were reportedly released from the pipeline.

The BSEE has tightened regulations for offshore operators since the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon well blowout which spilled more than three million barrels of oil into the Gulf - the worst oil spill in US history.

Eleven people were killed in the disaster.

Shell said it has mobilised response vessels, including aircraft, to see if it can recover the spilled oil.