Iran clears oil spill in northern Gulf region, IRNA agency reports

[August 01, 2020]    (Reuters) - Iranian teams have cleaned up an oil slick near field in the northern region of the Gulf that had extended over a six-square-km (2.3 square mile) area, an Iranian maritime official said on Saturday.

The cause of the spill, which occurred on Wednesday, was being investigated, the director general of ports and maritime in Iran's Bushehr Province, Siavash Arjomandzadeh, told the official IRNA news agency.

The cleanup took place near the Abuzar field, Iran's main production area in the Gulf.

An Iranian official had told IRNA on Thursday that it was difficult to determine the cause of the spill because there were several fields belonging to Iran and other countries in the region. He said oil could have leaked from underwater pipelines.

Abuzar oil field, about 75 km (46 miles) west of Iran's Kharg Island, has three main platforms producing between 195,000 to 220,000 barrels per day of oil, IRNA reported, adding 107 wells had been drilled in the field of which 67 still operated.

(Editing by Edmund Blair)

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