Oil slick at Montara: spill set to worsen after second failed attempt to intercept blown-out well.
PTTEP pays to scan Montara damage
PTTEP’s Australian unit will pay for an environmental monitoring programme to survey the impact of the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea.
The programme lasting two years will cover both short- and long-term effects of the leak from the Montara wellhead platform, PTTEP said in a statement.
It will be carried out in conjunction with the Australia's Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts, which is based in Canberra.
The operator said it is also paying the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s costs for managing the oil spill control and clean up operation.
The statement was issued after PTTEP failed to stem the leak after a second attempt to intercept the blown-out wellbore.
Oil began leaking from Montara field on 21 August from a blown-out subsea well.
The slick is now about 160 kilometres off the north-west coast of Australia, according to Sydney Morning Herald.
WWF wildlife group oceans campaigner, Gilly Llewellyn told the Australian paper the delay in containing the toxic spill is "adding risk and threat to precious marine life in the area".
''Oil can be a slow and silent killer,'' she told the newspaper. ''It can take a long time to manifest itself on marine populations''.
The WWF says that up to 15 species of whale and dolphin, more than 30 species of seabird and five species of turtle are the potential victims of the Montara spill.