Kuwait’s state oil company has said that the oil spill off the country’s coast had been contained and that it was in contact with oil companies operating in the Gulf region to try to locate the source of the leak, Reuters has reported citing the state news agency KUNA.
The state-owned energy body Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said large amounts of the leaked oil had been removed and the rest contained during around-the-clock emergency operations that included air and sea monitoring.
At least two spillages had hit different areas off the coast of the Gulf state since last week, Reuters had reported.
Kuwait reported a spill on August 12th in the Ras al-Zour area near the southern border with Saudi Arabia and on August 15th at Abu Fatira, about 25km south of the capital Kuwait City. Authorities have not said what caused the spills.
The size of the first spill was not given last week. Kuwait last Tuesday that the second spill spanned one nautical mile.
Kuwait’s Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq had on Monday said that neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Iran had said they had not detected any oil spillage in their waters.
The minister had also said that electricity and water production had continued at full capacity at the Al-Zour North and Al-Zour South plants.
Ras al-Zour is where Kuwait National Petroleum Co is building the Middle East’s largest oil refinery, with a processing capacity of 615,000 barrels per day and $11.5bn worth of contracts.
