Unocal accused of covering up offshore oil spill

Unocal accused of covering up offshore oil spill

Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An environmental non-governmental organization accused U.S. oil
company Unocal of covering up an offshore oil spill at its West
Seno deepwater well in the Makassar Straits early this month,
saying the company was slow in giving out information about
something that could clearly threaten the public and harm the
environment.

Meanwhile, Unocal claimed that it had no intention of covering
up the incident but was waiting until a thorough study on the
incident had been completed so that clear information would be
available.

According to the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), the incident
occurred on Sept. 5 at the Ranggas 6 well, around 75 kilometers
out in the Makassar Straits. But Unocal only issued a news
release about the incident on Sept. 27.

"Unocal is covering up this offshore oil spill incident,"
Aminuddin, JATAM media and public relations manager, said in a
press release distributed late last week.

He said the West Seno project could be the start of a disaster
for the environment and people around Tanjung Santan beach.

JATAM also said that the West Seno project had violated the
law as it failed to involve the local community in its
environmental impact assessment.

The West Seno project is the first deepwater oil field in
Indonesia. It is located in the Makassar Straits, about 190
kilometers northeast of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. The offshore
oil field lies in waters of between 732 meters and 1,000 meters
in depth.

The field was first discovered in 1997 and it is hoped to
start oil production in 2003. The project is expected to generate
more than US$1 billion in taxes and revenue during its lifetime.

Satria Djaya, Unocal's manager for communications and
government relations, rebuffed the allegation saying that it was
not an offshore oil spill but rather oil sheen. However, he did
admit that the sheen was first observed on Sept. 5.

Oil sheen is a thin layer of hydrocarbon which looks like an
oil spill when observed from afar.

He added that the company had reported the oil sheen to the
government shortly after it was discovered.

"The sheen was first observed on Sept. 5, and we reported it
to the State Implementing Body for Upstream Oil and Gas
Activities (BP Migas) and the Directorate General of Oil and Gas
(MIGAS) on Sept. 7, as well as to the Kutai Kartanegara and East
Kutai regency administrations," Satria told The Jakarta Post on
Monday.

Satria argued that it took time to release information to the
public as underwater research was needed to make sure the sheen
did come from West Seno.

"The research concluded that there was a tiny leak in the
casing but we are working to repair it. We released the
information as soon as we found out about this," he argued.

According to Satria, Unocal had sent samples of the oil sheen
to the U.S. to determine whether it posed a threat to the
environment.

JATAM called on the government to suspend the project saying
that it could pose threats to the community and environment.

"The evidence shows that for thirty years Unocal has been
causing environmental damage and misery to the people in East
Kalimantan," Aminuddin said.