China closed the biggest oil well because of leaks

US oil company ConocoPhilips today announced it will set up a special fund to address the aftermath of the oil spill in Bohai Bay, after receiving a suspension decision.

Xinhua said ConocoPhilips' decision was made after Chinese officials demanded that the company stop all operations at the 193-year-old Bong Lai oil well. However, ConocoPhilips did not disclose the size of the fund.

The ships collecting oil spill over Bohai Bay. (Photo: m4.cn)

Public opinion and Chinese media are increasingly resentful over ConocoPhilips China - ConocoPhilips' joint venture company and China National Offshore Oil Company - hiding information in the oil spill in Bohai Bay. For example, ConocoPhilips China said it had completed the spill oil collection, but the Chinese Oceanographic Bureau (SOA) found that oil continued to leak from the well.

Many people have filed lawsuits against ConocoPhilips China to claim compensation for their losses.

The Bohai Bay oil spill began on June 13, but it wasn't until early July that the incident was widely announced. China National Offshore Oil Company and ConocoPhiliips of the United States jointly operate the Bong Lai oil well 193. However, during the operation, an area of ​​about 840 to over 4,000 square kilometers was heavily polluted due to oil spill.

The SOA confirmed that, by the end of August, oil had covered an area of ​​over 5,500 square kilometers on Bohai Bay and had reached the coast of Hubei and Liaoning provinces.

Bong Lai 193 is China's largest offshore oil well, with an average capacity of 56,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2010.