Shell says pipeline still leaking oil into North Sea

LONDON: Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said its ruptured pipeline in the North Sea continued to leak oil on Tuesday in what is thought to be the worst oil spill since 2000.

The company was not able to give an estimate of when it expects the pipeline to stop seeping oil, said a spokesman.

Shell said around 216 tonnes of oil, equivalent to 1,300 barrels, had leaked into the North Sea in a "significant spill", but the rate at which it was flowing had reduced to around 5 barrels a day on Tuesday.

"What I do understand is yesterday it (the visible oil slick) was half a kilometer square ... and that has been reducing overnight," the spokesman told Reuters.

Copyright Reuters, 2011