BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's State Oceanic Administration has criticized ConocoPhillips (COP) for moving slowly to block oil leaks at drilling platforms off China's northeast coast.
ConocoPhillips closed drilling platforms B and C as requested, but it has made slow progress on the SOA's requirements to fully investigate risky spots for oil leaks and to fully block sources of leaks, the SOA's North China Sea Branch said in a statement on Friday. ConocoPhillips also "has not kept its promise" of ensuring the leaked oil would not reach shore or affect sensitive environmental areas, the statement said.
SOA officials who inspected the oil platforms at the Penglai 19-3 field on Thursday ordered the company to fix the problems immediately, the statement said.
Platform B was still intermittently leaking oil blooms recently, and an area near platform C had continuous oil blooms and a belt of oil in the nearby water, the SOA branch said in a separate statement on Friday.
The Penglai 19-3 field, a joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Cnooc Ltd. (CEO, 0883.HK), was discovered in 1999. Its production averaged 56,000 barrels a day in 2010.
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