Q. What's the current status of Peng-Lai 19-3? Is there any new sheen or new seeps occurring?
A. There has been no oil released since June 21. Some small droplets of oil occasionally make their way to the surface near Platform C. These residual hydrocarbon remnants trapped in subsea sediment continue to decrease in size and frequency.
Q. What was the total volume of oil and drilling fluid released?
A. We estimate that the volumes were: 115 cubic meters (~700 barrels) of oil and 416 cubic meters (~2,620 barrels) of mineral oil-based drilling mud. We were able to collect more than 80 percent of what was released.
Q. What is drilling mud?
A. Drilling mud is a product added to facilitate the drilling process and is commonly used in the industry. The release of that drilling mud occurred in a single incident. Since mineral oil-based drilling mud is heavier than water, when it escaped it sank to the sea floor near the platform.
Q. What happened to the oil?
A. The 115 cubic meters (700 barrels) of crude oil that were released during the two incidents were collected by skimmers or with absorbent booms and pads, or evaporated or broke down to background levels by natural forces.
Q. Did oil from these incidents reach the beaches of Bohai Bay?
A. We have no evidence that any of the oil sheen itself made it to shore or soiled beaches. ConocoPhillips China crews surveyed the coastline for three months, covering more than 100,000 kilometers searching for and collecting potential oil particles for testing to see if any of them matched the chemical makeup of the oil released from the Peng Lai B and C Platforms.
In all, 80 samples were collected; typically coin sized, or two to five centimeters (one to two inches) in diameter. All of the samples were tested by an independent laboratory and only four (collected in two locations) matched the chemical makeup of Peng Lai 19-3 crude oil. The vast majority of the 80 samples collected appear to be similar to fuel oil.
Q. Did oil from these incidents reach the beaches of Bohai Bay?
A. We have no evidence that any of the oil sheen itself made it to shore or soiled beaches. ConocoPhillips China crews surveyed the coastline for three months, covering more than 100,000 kilometers searching for and collecting potential oil particles for testing to see if any of them matched the chemical makeup of the oil released from the Peng Lai B and C Platforms.
In all, 80 samples were collected; typically coin sized, or two to five centimeters (one to two inches) in diameter. All of the samples were tested by an independent laboratory and only four (collected in two locations) matched the chemical makeup of Peng Lai 19-3 crude oil. The vast majority of the 80 samples collected appear to be similar to fuel oil.
Q. When did you disclose information about the incidents?
A. The authorities and our co-venturer, CNOOC, were notified as soon as both incidents were discovered.
Q. What actions did you take to clean up the oil sheen?
A. Upon observing the sheen, personnel deployed absorbent and inflatable booms to contain the oil sheen. In addition, two oil skimmers and absorbent pads were used to pick up the oil. During cleanup operations (both B and C), nearly 3,000 meters of boom was deployed and more than 33 vessels (workboats, fishing boats and tugs) supported clean-up activities.
Hundreds of personnel, both employees and contractors including drivers, pilots, deck hands, vessel captains and crew, divers, etc., have been involved in addressing the incidents.
ConocoPhillips China deployed its equipment as part of our normal response procedures. We asked for and CNOOC provided additional resources. All work was done under the supervision of the SOA.
Q. What measures were taken to stop the releases?
A. Related to the Platform B event, once water injection was stopped, the seep stopped. A seep containment device has been installed over the holes in the seabed. To date, the device has collected primarily water with only trace amounts of oil.
Related to the Platform C event, within 48 hours a cementing procedure stopped the release and the well was permanently plugged. There have been no new releases since June 21.
Q. Why are there two separate funds? What is the difference in the two funds? What are they for?
A. On September 6 ConocoPhillips announced that it will establish a fund related to the incidents at Peng Lai 19-3 field. This first fund is intended to provide fair and reasonable compensation for any damages arising from the incidents. On September 18 ConocoPhillips announced the company’s intention to create a second fund to specifically address environmental issues in Bohai Bay. The first fund is a compensation fund and the second fund is an environmental fund.
Q. What will ConocoPhillips do to reduce the risk of this happening again and minimize the impact?
A. ConocoPhillips continually looks for ways to improve safety in all areas of our operations. We will utilize learnings from areas such as geological formations and reservoir pressure, as well as cleanup and containment materials in our ongoing pursuit of best practices for safety and environmental impact reduction.