The area affected by the oil spill in the north China seas now six times the size of Singapore according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).
Penglai clean up in operation Image: CNTV |
The huge oil spill at the Penglai 19-3 oilfield, which started almost a month ago, now covers an area of almost 4,250 square kilometres. This new figure is almost 5 times the 840 square kilometres reported by United States' ConocoPhillips and CNOOC last week. The government may be seeking compensation for the leak, but is waiting until the leak is plugged to assess how this should be implemented.
CNOOC announced last week that the spill was “basically under control”, a statement backed up by ConocoPhillips' assertion that “all leaks had been plugged.” However, according to the State Oceanic Administration, oil had been seeping continuously into the sea from platforms B and C for days. The SOA have subsequently ordered ConocoPhillips to stop operations at Penglai 19-3 immediately, which will result in around 17,000 barrels-per-day reduction to ConocoPhillips. CNOOC's current aggregate estimate of fluid spilled from the two incidents is 1,500 barrels, however Greenpeace estimates it may be up to 60 times that amount.
CNOOC and ConocoPhilips have stated they are both working closely with the SOA to curtail the leak. They have cast over 3,000 metres of inflatable booms around they most heavily affected area, and have deployed 33 vessels to help with the clean up effort. CNOOC states that no personel have been injured during the leak, and that the spill has not yet reached the shoreline.