China Mulls ConocoPhillips Lawsuit Over Bohai Bay Oil Spill

SHANGHAI -- 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 mud contaminated by oil was removed, the company said. It is trying to determine the source of the droplets and to capture them before they reach the ocean surface. It denied media reports of a new leak.

ConocoPhillips said the current seep is less than 1 liter (0.26 gallon) per day. Resumption of pumping in some wells that had been shut down earlier was helping to reduce pressure and "should help alleviate the seep," it said.

"We are taking some heat for not cleaning it up faster but as you know Bohai Bay is not the most pristine water to begin with so our 60 plus divers can only see a meter or two in front of their face," ConocoPhillips spokesman John McLemore said in an email. "ConocoPhillips is not going to be put on a time schedule by anyone that puts workers at risk."

The company said it had recovered 337 cubic meters (2,119 barrels) of "mineral oil-based mud" from around the Penglai 19-3 platform and has more than 900 staff and more than 30 vessels working to resolve the problems.

The company said the total amount of oil and drilling fluids leaked in the spills was estimated at about 240 cubic meters (1,500 barrels). Some of the oil found on the sea surface was analyzed and determined to be coming from a seep in the seabed rather than Penglai 19-3 wells, it said.

Legal action over such incidents is complicated by the fact that in China only those directly affected, and not environmental groups, can sue for compensation.

Suing in a U.S. court is another option, the financial newspaper China Business Journal said, but is also problematic because of the high costs involved.

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Researcher Fu Ting contributed.

Comments

[LaoShur]

12:50 PM on 08/18/2011

"A company spokesman said the process was slowed by concerns for worker safety in the unclear waters affected by the spill."

That's because "green" China dumps their garbage openly into the sea!! Kind of funny that a nation swamped in garbage on its land and in its water and with open burn pits peppering the countryside is "offended" by Conoco-Phillips!

[kwaut lizard]

03:31 AM on 08/17/2011

"ConocoPhi­llips China operates the wells in the Bohai's Penglai 19-3 oilfield in partnershi­p with state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp." China National Offshore Oil Corp or CNOOC Group is a state-owne­d oil company, fully owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China, and the State-Owne­d Assets Supervisio­n and Administra­tion Commission of the State Council (SASAC) performs the rights and obligation­s of shareholde­r on behalf of the government­. The State Oceanic Administra­tion of China (SOA), is run by an administra­tor who answers to the State Council (that would include SASAC), said it was recruiting legal advisers to pursue compensati­on claims against the company operating the wells (ConocoPhi­llips China).

Here's the second largest economy on the planet that hasn't learned what CONFLICT OF INTEREST means. Of the Big Five Oil Companies, Conoco Philips has the best environmen­tal record by far, which makes one wonder which of these joint venture partners is truly responsibl­e for this oil spill.

Basic deductive reasoning concludes that the State Council of China (including SASAC) is suing its own American business partner for pollution that the State Councils own State owned company may have caused in the first place.

Hey Texans! Welcome to China! How's the big end feel for a change?

There it is, the cost of doing business in China. You provide the development principal and hold the liability, the Chinese hold the money and garner the profits.

Almost makes you feel sorry for an oil company, almost!

[Stephanie Gilley]

02:37 AM on 08/17/2011

What the hell, how many freaking oil spills have there been around the globe in the last two years? It seems like they are happening all the time! Are we ready to invest in some Green tech yet!?! Sheesh!!!

[maxwelldog]

09:00 PM on 08/16/2011

and gee, while in court...
Perhaps Australia would like to claim damages from the Chinese oil transport that admittedly went off course, and plowed into reef off the Eastern shores...
Also, several international inspectors would like to make regular visits to the nuclear stations China is lining the ocean side of their country with...Back to back nukes...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

[kwaut lizard]

03:48 AM on 08/17/2011

The Shen Ning 1, a 750-plus-foot vessel hauling more than 72000 tonnes of coal that threatened to dump over a 1000 tonnes of fuel oil on the Great Barrier Reef when is slammed into a restricted zone over 9 miles out of the shipping lane. They towed that ship to Great Keppel Island. Now they are trying to assess what chemical makeup constitutes the anti-fouling paint that was left smeared across the 1.9 miles long and up to 820 feet scar it left behind. I hope they release their findings, would be interesting to know if China still allows the use of tributyltin fluoride (TBTF) based anti-fouling paints, outlawed in the 1980's.

[maxwelldog]

10:51 AM on 08/17/2011

Amazing bit of research, kwaut lizard.
I don't know whether to apologize for thinking it was an oil tanker (since it had also released fuel (evidently from the engines?) or whether I should go run and hide under the bed...

Let's see...
They're hauling coal (and good chances are scrubbers may not be the going concern)
to boost their energy needs coupled with the nuclear wall of reactors they have on the Pacific Rim (gee...would the Pacific Rim by any chance be that same Rim that throws constant earthquakes to the western most states of the US, the western side of Canada, runs along Russia's Eastern edge, over and around Japan and the rest of the islands there (that used to be one huge land mass...before umpteen earthquakes and volcanoes)...
They continue to use paints and chemicals that are a known hazard to humans (although, they have a billion people in country. The odds are that SOMEONE from China will survive. Probably the wealthy)

Yeah...
If anyone wants me, I'll be under the bed with the dog and Calvin and Hobbes.
Fanned for excellent researching.
Scarey though it may be.

[Kenz300]

10:26 AM on 08/16/2011

The price of oil, coal and nuclear keeps going up. The environmental damage is obvious.

The price of wind and solar keep dropping.

It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy. Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste are the future. Bring on the electric, flex-fuel, hybrid and CNG vehicles. It is time to end the oil monopoly on transportation fuels.

[sean62965]

01:13 PM on 08/16/2011

It's happening. Albeit slowly. We need to rid ourselves of the politicians who work tirelessly to keep the staus quo in place.
I don't understand their stance though. We will need oil for decades to come. The less we need to import is only good for us as a whole. The oil companies can still make their profits, but, we can make the stepping stones bigger each year to assure we have a seamless transition.
Most people just don't know enough, or care to educate themselves enough to speak out, they just don't want anything to disrupt their way of life. And change is a huge disruption to a good chunk of our population.

[KarlaElisa]

04:55 PM on 08/16/2011

this culture doesn't want to entertain what life without oil will look like. it's like it's inconceivable they would need to conserve anything in this throw away life of theirs.

all i've been doing for the last 4 years is preparing for the end of oil, coal, gas and water/seed shortages. we've been growing a crop of tards for the last few decades and their sense of entitlement is astonishing.

when things really begin to deteriorate and they will, it will come fast and hard. there's a spanish proverb: "There are but 7 meals between civilazation and anarchy".

it'll get ugly real fast when everyday folks get hungry. oil prices skyrocketing will send our food supply into a tizzy.