Spill plug effort 'could take weeks'

(AAP) - A relief effort to plug a leaking oil well in the Timor Sea could require as many as three more attempts and take several more weeks.

Oil has been spilling from PTTEP Australasia's Montara well head platform, more than
200 kilometres off Western Australia's Kimberley coastline, since August 21.
ALERT Well Control, the company tasked with intersecting a 25cm diameter well casing
2.7km below the seabed and plugging it with heavy mud, says it is confident of
achieving the task.
ALERT managing director Mike Allcorn said on Thursday a number of attempts might be
required before the well was plugged.
"It may require one, two or three passes to be successful," Mr Allcorn told
reporters on Thursday.
Each attempt, or pass, takes three or four days to prepare for, Mr Allcorn said.
While the process was frustrating, it was not unusual in this type of relief effort,
he said.
A number of contingencies were in place should the attempts fail, Mr Allcorn said.
PTTEP chief financial officer Jose Martins said the Thai-based company would
announce to the Thai Stock Exchange on Friday the cost of the spill, which totalled
$A177 million.
Some of the cost would be borne by PTTEP's insurance company but the company faced a
significant exposure.
Mr Martins said was not willing to discuss the cause of the leaking well head ahead
of a government inquiry into the spill.
The company has paid $5.3 million for the clean-up and containment effort conducted
the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to date.