The Chinese government via the State Oceanic Administration has asked ConocoPhillips for a comprehensive assessment on the oil spill in Bohai Bay. From Forbes:
ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that near 1,695 barrels of oil soaked soil and sand has been recovered so far with about 900 personnel and more than 30 vessels working on the clean up. Earlier, the State Oceanic Administration had asked ConocoPhillips to finish the seabed cleanup by early this week and complete the whole cleanup by Aug. 31. But the deadline for the seabed cleanup cannot be met following an additional discovery of oil-soaked mud last week.
John McLemore, ConocoPhillips’s spokesman, told China Daily via email earlier that the cleanup may take longer than planned, which is likely with the discovery of the additional mud. Although the company said full efforts have been taken, the North China Sea Branch has been increasingly critical of the company’s “inefficient and temporary cleanup”.
The company also upped its spill estimates today as a new spill source was identified. From Upstream Online:
Last month, the US supermajor estimated about 1500 barrels of oil and oil-based mud had been released into the sea and that an order to shut down the platforms would result in a temporary output cut of about 17,000 barrels per day.
However, a recent survey at the C platform identified more oil-based drilling mud on the seafloor than originally estimated, the company said on its website, with clean-up work ongoing.
The SOA has called on ConocoPhillips to apologise for its slow clean-up and has asked the company to contain the oil spill, clean up polluted areas and conduct a thorough investigation to eliminate further risks of oil spills before 31 August
