Work in the waters around the port of Dalia has succeeded in capturing any oil remaining from a release following a pipeline explosion last week, according to reports from China.
Offshore staff
DALIA, China – Work in the waters around the port of Dalia has succeeded in capturing any oil remaining from a release following a pipeline explosion last week, according to reports from China.
Reports say that the oil release came with an explosion in a pipe moving crude oil from a Liberian tanker to shore. That explosion set of a second blast from a nearby pipeline. Some 2,000 firefighters from the area worked on the blaze for 15 hours to extinguish the fires. The leak was shut off within 24 hours.
An explosion hit an oil pipeline 0.9 m (3 ft) in diameter at 6:20 p.m. on July 16 and triggered an adjacent smaller pipeline to explode near Dalian Xingang Port, says the Xinhua news report. Both pipelines are owned by CNPC, the Chinese national oil company.
The volume of oil released is unclear, but sources say it is extremely small compared to the BP spill at Macondo in the Gulf of Mexico. Reuters reports that 1,500 metric tons (1,653 tons) of heavy crude was released, and that the government says the spill has been removed and no slick remains on the water.
