Environmental group calls on oil company to publish details of its most recent pipeline inspection report following last week's spill

Oil company Shell faced calls on Thursday to make public its most recent pipeline inspection report, a week after one of its offshore platforms spilled more than 200 tonnes of oil into the North Sea.

The leak, which is the biggest in the region for more than a decade, was discovered last Wednesday, but only made public on Friday evening. On Saturday, Shell said the flow had been brought "under control".

But on Tuesday it emerged that a secondary leak was still spilling oil into the sea from the same source, though at a much reduced rate. The call came from environmental charity RSPB Scotland, which is seeking more information on Shell's infrastructure.

A spokesman said: "We would like Shell to publish details of the last recent pipeline inspection report. That would be very helpful because they have been talking about subsea infrastructure. "Some of that now may be quite old and now would be a good time to let the public know about the situation. It would be interesting to know what that shows."

Shell said it was unable to estimate how much oil was in the pipeline, before confirming the figure of 660 tonnes at a press conference in Aberdeen yesterday. About 218 tonnes of oil, equal to 1,300 barrels, has already escaped from the pipe.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change will investigate the incident. Yesterday it also emerged that the first oiled bird had been discovered in the area affected by the spill near the Gannet Alpha platform, about 112 miles east of Aberdeen.

Stuart Housden, RSPB Scotland director, said: "We now need to ensure that the forthcoming inquiry is open and transparent. We need to know what happened, why and if those responsible will be held accountable. But the inquiry must be broad enough to cover the preparedness and investment needed by government and industry to prevent future occurrences.

"Without this information, the Scottish and UK governments cannot ensure that the appropriate regulatory framework is in place to protect our internationally important seabird populations, and the marine environment on which wildlife and many industries depend."

Yesterday, Richard Lochhead, the Scottish environment secretary, said one oiled bird was spotted but there is "no evidence" of any significant environmental impact. He also said fisheries in the area are not expected to be affected by the spill.

Lochhead said he had spoken with both Shell's senior management and the UK government's offshore incident representative, Hugh Shaw, and stressed the "importance of clear communication on the current operation" and the expectation people have for "complete openness and transparency" on the spill.

(AP / Guardian.co.uk, 18/08/2011)