Oil spill lessons

THE ORDER BY THE STATE OCEANIC ADMINISTRATION (SOA) to ConocoPhillips China that it must stop all production operations in Bohai Bay is long overdue given the two-month long oil leaks and extensive contamination of large areas of Bohai Bay.

An investigation conducted jointly by seven central government departments has confirmed that the subsidiary of the Houston-based US energy giant has seriously violated operating rules. What is even more serious is the lack of attention to the abnormal phenomena that preceded the oil leaks and its disregard for their consequences.

Comparing the information ConocoPhillips China has provided about the oil spill and the measures it has adopted to stop it with the results of the investigation, it is not hard to realize that the firm lacks any basic social responsibility.