Five months after the initial oil spill at the offshore oil fields at Bohai bay, which is jointly operated by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and the US oil firm Conocophillips, the State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA) has concluded that Conocophillips’ failure to abide by the general development plan is the main reason for the accident.

On 11 November, SOA released its report on the accident at the Penglai 19-3 oil field in Bohai bay, which began spilling on June 4. By July 5, the oil spill had contaminated 840 km² of water.

To date, there are still reports of leaks from the oil field, which is majority owned by CNOOC, who holds the development rights. Conocophillips are responsible for performing the oil drilling. In early November, Conocophillips said in a statement that Platform B has been sealed with four cement plugs and that efforts were continuing to reduce the pressure at the Platform C.

Li Xiaoming, director of the ocean environmental protection department of SOA, says that the average petroleum concentration in the sea near the Penglai 19-3 oilfield is more than 40 times the historical background value, and at its highest the concentration was about 86 times higher. 

Since the spill, the population of fish, crabs, lobster, sea pumpkin and shrimp farmed in the Laoting County area of Hebei Province has dramatically reduced. This has severely affected fisherman near the oil spill and they are struggling for compensation. While Conocophillips said in early and mid September that it would set up two funds for compensation, in early November there was still no progress.

The affected fishermen have requested that a fund of 3 billion yuan (US$472 million) be set up to deal with compensation. However, resolution is complicated by the obscure responsibilities of CNOOC and Conocophillips, the limited law enforcement power of SOA, and the difficulties in defining exact harms, say experts and lawyers representing the suffering farmers.

SOA claims that it will sue Conocophillips for compensation of ecological losses - a very rare case in China where government agencies often fine polluting enterprises directly. In accordance with China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law, the maximum fine for marine pollution is a mere 200 000 yuan.

Wang Yamin, an assistant professor at the College of Oceanology of Shandong University points out that the marine environment law, which was enacted in 1982 and revised in 1999, has many deficiencies. ‘The law needs further modification and improvement, especially in the oil spill emergency disposal and supervision, oil spill risk assessment, and marine ecology and ecological damage claims,’ Wang tells Chemistry World  . 

So far, no evaluation on the accident’s environmental impact has been publicized. 

Hepeng Jia and Feng Tang