Company says 99% of oil spill cleared

BEIJING - US oil company ConocoPhillips said on Monday it had cleaned up 99 percent of the mineral oil-based drilling mud near Platform C at Penglai 19-3 oil field, as a deadline ordered by China's oceanic authorities is approaching.

By Aug 29, 399 cubic meters of mineral oil-based drilling mud, accounting for 99 percent of the volume that had been identified on the seabed around Platform C, had been cleaned up, according to a statement on the company's website.

"The mud is expected to be cleaned up completely before the end of August," it said.