http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-08/01/content_13019025.htm
China Daily
Deadline for oil leak clean up
Updated: 2011-08-01 07:05
By Wang Qian (China Daily)
A man moves a stack of dead scallops on July 26 in Laoting county, Hebei province. The province’s fisheries have suffered as a result of the oil leaks in Bohai Bay. [Photo/ China Daily]
BEIJING – Oil leaks continue at two platforms operated by ConocoPhillips in Bohai Bay, more than two weeks after authorities ordered them to shut down, China’s ocean watchdog said on Friday.
The State Oceanic Administration has ordered the company to stop the leaks, contain the oil spills, clean up polluted areas and conduct a thorough investigation to eliminate the possibility of further oil spills before Aug 31.
Several oil belts were detected by the administration on July 27 in a 4.6-square-kilometer area to the east of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield, and the administration’s surveillance has determined that Platform C is still leaking about 2.52 liters of oil a day and that there are more oil slicks near Platform B.
ConocoPhillips reportedly admitted that “small and intermittent spills” are still being detected at Platform B and said it will make efforts to clean up the spills before the deadline, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
The administration also ordered ConocoPhillips to provide a report by an independent evaluation authority once the leaks have been stopped and the spills contained.
Pollutants from the oil spill have been found on beaches in North China’s Hebei province, and fisheries there are complaining that the disaster has caused the death of a large number of scallops.
“According to our statistics, about 70 percent of the scallops have died due to the oil leak, with economic losses reaching at least 200 million yuan ($30 million),” Yang Jizhen, chairman of the Laoting Fisheries Association, told China Daily.
About 30 boxes of dead scallops have been collected and stored as evidence since July 17, Yang said.
Around 160 households in Laoting county in the province rely on fisheries and related work for their livelihoods and they are planning to file a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips, the operator of the Penglai oilfield and its partner, China National Offshore Oil Corp, he added.
Qi Yuxiang, deputy director of the Laoting aquatic product bureau said they are checking every household to calculate the losses, but he is more worried about the potential long-term effects on exports. Aquatic products in Laoting are exported to Japan and the Republic of Korea.
According to statistics released by the administration on July 12, 4,240 sq km of coastal waters have been contaminated by the leak.
The administration ordered Houston-based ConocoPhillips to shut down production at the two platforms on July 13 because of the company’s inability to contain the oil leaks at platforms B and C.
The company has estimated that about 1,500 to 2,000 barrels of oil and oil-based drilling fluids have been released into the sea.
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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/29/content_13014733.htm
China Daily
Sun, July 31, 2011
Oil still leaking at 2 platforms on NE China sea
Updated: 2011-07-29 20:09
(Xinhua)
QINGDAO – 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 had reached the country’s level one standard.
The oilfield is jointly operated by ConocoPhillips China (COPC), a subsidiary of US energy giant ConocoPhillips, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country’s largest offshore oil producer.
The SOA North China Sea branch has ordered COPC to contain the oil spills, clean up polluted areas and conduct a thorough investigation to eliminate further risks of spills and leaks before August 31.
COPC first reported the two oil spills to authorities in early and mid-June, when an area of 840 square kilometers was polluted.
Pollutants from the oil spill have been found spreading to beaches in northern Hebei Province and northeastern Liaoning Province, which have been blamed for losses in local tourism revenue and aquatic farming industry.
Another oil spill incident reported on July 12 occurred at the Suizhong 36-1 oilfield’s central platform, which is also operated by CNOOC. It marked the third spill in two months in Bohai Bay.
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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/26/content_12987632.htm
China Daily
Oil spill suspected in massive death of shells
Updated: 2011-07-26 17:09
(Xinhua)
LAOTING, Hebei – Chinese fishermen in northern Hebei province believe oil particles from a huge spill off the east coast caused a massive death of scallop that they cultivated this season.
More than 160 groups of scallop-raising fishermen have reported to the agricultural bureau in Laoting county that more than half of the scallop cultivated in a shore area of 23 hectares died after greasy oil particles were found along a 25-km beach.
Fishermen said the contamination came from oil spills at the Penglai 19-3 oil field jointly operated by the Houston-based ConocoPhillips’ China subsidiary and its Chinese partner China National Offshore Oil Corp(CNOOC).
China’s oceanic authorities ordered the field to halt production on July 13, and revealed the spills had occurred as early as the first half of June.
The State Oceanic Administration concluded this week that oil particles from the spills in Bohai Bay have been found spreading to beaches in Jingtang Port of Hebei and Dongdaihe Bathing Beach in the county of Suizhong in northeastern Liaoning province.
The beach in Laoting is only five sea miles away from Jingtang Port.
“Some fishermen plan to hire lawyers to sue CNOOC and ConocoPhillips for the contamination-triggered aquatic losses,” said Yang Jizhen, head of the Loating Aquaculture Association, adding the losses from scallop death are estimated at 350 million yuan ($54 million).
But he admitted that it was difficult for the fishermen to obtain validate documents showing the oil spill from the Penglai 19-3 field was the direct cause of the death.
“The quality of scallop is mainly determined by the quality of the sea water, and half of young shells I bred this year died and the rest aren’t good,” said Li Jiafeng, one of the fishermen.
He said there were no red tides or abnormal occurrences other than the oil spill that could be attributed to the massive death of the aquatics.
“Only after we found the oil particles on the beach did we think that the oil contamination may be the killer,” he said.
Yang said local fishermen suffered similar losses from an under-sea oil pipeline breach in 2006, and that it prevented the resumption of normal production of local aquatic farming for over two years.
He said fishermen had expected revenue of 340 million yuan from the scallop-farming investment of 170 million yuan this year. However, the ocean contamination could vanish their hopes.
Several government departments in Laoting, including the marine affairs bureau and the environment protection bureau are investigating the oil contamination situation.
Special thanks to Richard Charter