Oil spill in the Gulf

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A 2, 100-barrel oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico forced Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday to shut in all wells that flow to its Brutus platform, federal regulators said.

The U.S. Bureau of security and ecological Enforcement (BSEE) said a 2 mile by 13 mile (about 3 km by 21 km) sheen was noticeable in ocean about 97 miles off the Louisiana shore.

About 88, 200 gallons was reportedly released from the pipeline, the Coast Guard said, adding the origin of the discharge was reported as secured.

The sheen is near Shell's Glider Field, several four subsea wells whoever production moves through a subsea manifold into Brutus system, which sits in water with a level of 2, 900 foot (884 m).

In a statement, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said a business helicopter observed the sheen on Thursday, and that the wells were under control after it isolated the drip and shut-in production.

"there are not any drilling tasks at Brutus, and also this is certainly not a well control event, " Shell stated.

Brutus started operation in 2001 and had been designed with top capacity of 100, 000 drums of oil and 150 million cubic foot (4.25 million cubic yards) of gas each day, based on business trade publications.

Shell stated the sheen likely originated in a release of oil from subsea infrastructure, though it is still deciding the precise reason for the release by examining subsea equipment and flowlines.

Authorities stated the explanation for the event is under investigation.

BSEE has tightened regulations for overseas providers because the 2010 BP Plc Macondo really blowout that spilled a lot more than 3 million drums of oil, which makes it the worst tragedy of the type in U.S. record.

Shell said no injuries resulted from incident and therefore the business features mobilized response vessels, including aircraft, to see if it could recuperate the spilled oil.