SHANGHAI ? ConocoPhillips is defending its handling of oil spills off China's eastern coast, denying allegations that it sought to deceive authorities by falsely claiming to have stopped and cleaned up the seeps.
The spills began in June and last week led to an order to halt all production in the affected Penglai 19-3 oil field in Bohai Bay. They have prompted a chorus of criticism against ConocoPhillips in China's state-run media, along with calls from environmentalists for harsher penalties for damages.
The China arm of ConocoPhillips operates wells in Penglai 19-3 in a venture with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp., whose role, despite its majority 51 percent stake in the venture, has drawn little public attention.
ConocoPhillips said in a statement Monday it was committed to complying with the law and conducting "all business activities with the highest ethical standards."
"This commitment fully applies to how we conduct our business in China," it said.
ConocoPhillips requested a correction of a weekend news report on state-run China Central Television. The report claimed that a ConocoPhillips China employee interviewed by marine radio said the company was deliberately deceiving the State Oceanic Administration in reporting that the oil spills had been fully contained and cleaned up.
"The ConocoPhillips China employee interviewed by CCTV did not make the negative comment which CCTV is attributing to him," it said.
The State Oceanic Administration said Friday that its investigation found ConocoPhillips had failed to fully comply by an Aug. 31 deadline with its orders to completely clean up damage from the spills and to ensure they would not recur.
ConocoPhillips said it was working with CNOOC to bring output to a halt. CNOOC said the suspension of production in Penglai 19-3 would reduce output by 40,000 barrels a day, in addition to the 22,000 barrels a day lost with the shut-down of the two wells where the spills occurred.
The spills, which occurred June 4 and June 17, released about 700 barrels of oil into Bohai Bay and 2,500 barrels of mineral oil-based drilling mud onto the seabed, according to the company.
It says small amounts of oil and mineral oil-based drilling mud, used as a lubricant, that are still emerging are from earlier seeps that have been shifting under layers of sand on the seabed.
But the State Oceanic Administration said that monitoring by satellite, underwater robots and other means showed that the oil was not fully cleaned up and was still seeping. It repeated criticism over ConocoPhillips' containment measures, deeming them not a permanent solution, and questioned the company's operating procedures.
It ordered the company to strictly comply with CNOOC's supervision.
The official newspaper China Daily, in a harshly worded commentary, said Monday that a joint investigation by seven government departments found ConocoPhillips China had "seriously violated operating rules."
"Not only is the oil spill worse than the company reported but, despite its assurances to the contrary, it has failed to bring the situation under full control and find and stop the sources of the spills," it said. "Obviously, China needs to learn a lesson from this incident."
The maritime authority has said it is preparing to file lawsuits on behalf of those who suffered losses due to pollution from the spill.
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