Tag: Bohai Bay

The spills have added to concerns over damage to the marine environment China's oceanic administration says it is preparing to sue the local unit of ConocoPhillips for damages to the environment resulting from offshore oil spills that began in June.The State Oceanic Administration said Tuesday in a notice on its website that it was recruiting legal advisers to pursue compensation claims against the company, which operates the leaking oil wells in Bohai Bay.ConocoPhillips said it expects to have mud affected by the oil cleaned up by the end of August. A company spokesman said the process was slowed by concerns for worker safety in the unclear waters affected by the spill.The spills have added to concerns over damage to the marine environment in Bohai, a major fishery, from industrial, agricultural and other types of pollution.ConocoPhillips China operates the wells in the Bohai's Penglai 19-3 oilfield in partnership with state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp. The spills covered 840 square kilometers (324 square miles), according to oceanic administration reports, and have drawn criticism from environmentalists and local media over potential damage and apparent delays in notifying the public.On Sunday, oil droplets were bubbling from the sea floor near the well where ...

Leaking at a speed of about 2.52 liters per day Oil continues to leak at ConocoPhillips's two platforms in northeast Bohai Bay more than two weeks after Chinese authorities ordered a shutdown of their output, said China's oceanic watchdog on Friday.Remote satellite sensing and a survey made by a patrol boat of the sea area on Wednesday and Thursday, both conducted by the China State Oceanic Administration (SOA), identified several oil belts in an area of 4.6 square kilometers to the east of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield, though ConocoPhilips's oil-cleaning efforts continue.The surveillance has determined that the oilfield's platform C is leaking at a speed of about 2.52 liters per day and found oil belts near platform B despite the company's cleaning efforts, said Lin Fangzhong, an official with SOA North China Sea Branch, on Friday.The density of oil pollutants per liter of sea water sampled in the area reached a maximum of 118 micrograms, far exceeding the limit of 50 micrograms per liter set for the country's the second-class sea water quality, which is applicable to aquiculture areas and direct sea water contact for the human body, he said.Before the oil leak, the sea water quality in the area ...