London ( CNN ) -- The flare on a North Sea platform that has been leaking gas for nearly a week has extinguished itself , energy giant Total said Saturday . There had been fears the flare could ignite the escaping gas at the Elgin platform , about 150 miles ( 240 km ) east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen , potentially causing a huge explosion . Total said it had received the first indication that the flare might be out at lunchtime on Friday . This was subsequently confirmed by a second surveillance flight later that afternoon , the company said in a statement . `` Our sea vessels on location reported no further flare activity through the night , '' it added Saturday . Total said Friday that it was ready to push ahead with two operations intended to stop the leak , following five days during which the site had remained stable . `` The first is to pump heavy mud directly into the well and the second is to drill relief wells to intervene at the source of the gas flow , '' Total said . The firm is `` mobilizing all means to allow these options to be implemented , '' it said . Total has two drilling rigs in the area which will be used to drill the relief wells , it said . The company , which is still investigating the cause of the leak , estimates that 200,000 cubic meters of gas a day are escaping . `` The gas cloud is fairly small in size and prevailing winds are blowing it away from the platform and dispersing it , '' Total said . `` An exclusion zone around the platform has been set up by the UK authorities taking into account a wide safety margin . '' Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said Friday he had stressed the need for `` absolute transparency '' from Total and the British government with regards to the situation . While the current environmental risk `` continues to be minimal , '' he said , the authorities will continue to be vigilant . Nearly 240 workers were taken off the rig as the problem developed Sunday . Two nearby rigs were also partially evacuated by Shell . CNN 's Bharati Naik contributed to this report .
The flare on a North Sea platform that has been leaking gas has gone out , Total says . There had been fears the flare would ignite the clouds of the gas . Gas has been leaking from the platform off the Scottish coast since Sunday . Total is starting work on a plan to contain the leak , including drilling more wells .