Oil spill off Mumbai coast

MUMBAI - An oil spill was reported 80 km off the Mumbai coast Friday after a rupture in a pipeline carrying crude oil from state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s (ONGC) offshore oil fields.

A leakage has been detected at ONGC’s Mumbai Uran Trunk (MUT) oil pipeline at 8.45 a.m. The leakage was observed 2 km from Bassein oil and gas field in western offshore, a company official said.

“The regional contingency plan (which is the existing emergency response measure) has been activated immediately on detection of the leak,” he added.

Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group and Coast Guard have also been informed. National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan is also being activated by the Coast Guard to ensure minimum damage to the environment.

“ONGC has mobilised the pipeline repair vessel, including three multi-support vessels, to the site to ascertain the extent of leakage for containment and repair. The initial assessment of the extent of oil spill is about one mile long,” the official said.

Oil and gas production from Mumbai High is being diverted to the ICP-Heera Uran Trunk (HUT) pipeline. Connected oil and gas wells are being closed for safety reasons. The production loss may last for about three hours only.

Due to these interim measures, a loss of 25,000 barrels is anticipated.