North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC) issued a statement on the alleged oil leak in the Caspian Sea, QazMonitor reports citing the press service of the company.
What happened: Some local media reported an oil spill in the Caspian Sea near Kashagan, reaching about 7 square kilometers. On April 1, Galina Chernova, Executive Director at Globus Environmental and Legal Initiative Center made a Facebook post, saying "According to space monitoring data, an oil spill was detected in the area of the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea on March 30 this year".
What the company says: “NCOC, the Operator of the North Caspian project, conducts its activities within the norms and standards set in the emission permits and environmental impact assessments. The information about the alleged leak of oil, wastewater or other liquids at the Kashagan offshore complex on 30 March 2024 at 7:43 (GMT+5) or 2:43 (UTC) has not been confirmed by evidence,” reads the company statement published on April 3.
The company stated that according to satellite images SENTINEL-1A as of 30 March 2024 and TerraSAR-X as of 2 April 2024, a natural phenomenon was observed in the North Caspian Sea, including a small portion close to north of Kashagan D island. Such phenomena were not present in other images in the following days.
The area near D island mentioned in the publication was surveyed with no spills or leaks detected.
NCOC's offshore facilities are operating normally.
