To address the consequences of an oil spill in northern China that has angered authorities in Beijing, ConocoPhillips said on Sept. 7 that it was setting up a fund.
The Houston, Texas-based oil firm did not give the size of the fund, which it said would be used to address ConocoPhillips's legal responsibilities under Chinese law and to benefit the environment of Bohai Bay.
"ConocoPhillips deeply regrets these incidents and apologizes for the impact that the incidents have had on the Chinese people and the environment," said CEO James Mulva.
Earlier on Sept. 7, China's cabinet ordered an investigation into the spill at the offshore Penglai 19-3 oilfield.
ConocoPhillips has taken a beating in Chinese state media over the spill and faced public anger and criticism from environmental groups. Fishermen in Shandong, Hebei and Liaoning provinces that border Bohai Bay, east of Beijing, allege that oil from the leak has killed a large part of their harvest of seafood such as sokay wicallops.
ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, says that the equivalent of 3,200 barrels have leaked into the sea as a result of the spill.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011
