China’s oceanic administration says it is preparing to sue ConocoPhillips China for damages to the environment resulting from offshore oil spills that began in June.
The Chinese State Oceanic Administration said yesterday in a notice on its Web site that it was recruiting legal advisers to pursue compensation claims against the company, which operates the leaking oil wells in Bohai Bay.
ConocoPhillips said in a statement on Monday that it expected to have mud affected by the oil cleaned up by the end of this month. 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 fisheries base, 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 840km2, according to the administration’s reports, and have drawn criticism from environmentalists and media over potential damage and apparent delays in notifying the public.
ConocoPhillips spokesman John McLemore said in an e-mailed message that local media reports of a fresh leak were erroneous: “To my knowledge, there are no new leaks. If there are, they are very small and cleaned up immediately ... All we actually reported was that we found some additional drilling mud on the seabed.”
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