Oil spill found near Hess? exploration field

Oil spill has been found near an oil exploration field owned by oil and gas company Hess Indonesia Pongkah off Gresik coastal area in North Java, Kompas reported on Thursday.

Hess had tried to block the oil spill found in around 200-meter area near the company?s platform B so that it would not spread to a wider area, the company?s Onshore Facility Manager Dwi Paramita said in a press statement as reported by the newspaper.

He said that that Hess had also temporarily stopped the delivery of oil and gas through an undersea gas near the Ujungpongkah oil field to a processing facility in Manyar to enable the company to investigate the possibility of a leak in the pipe.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Andrian, the company?s area manager and a member of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) said that the sample of the oil spill had been sent to a laboratory for further assessment.

Based on an initial investigation result, Hess found there was no major change in air pressure in the gas pipeline indicating that the possibility of a leak in the pipeline was slim, Mohammad said.

A special team from the company and dozens of local fishermen had worked together to ensure that the oil spill would not spread to a wider area.(*)