Houston, 11 October (Argus) — Sample results from an oil sheen spotted near the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster matches samples of oil from BP's Macondo well, according to the US Coast Guard.
The discovery means that BP and Transocean could be held accountable for any cost associated with further assessments or operations related to the sheen.
“The exact source of the sheen is uncertain at this time but could be residual oil associated with wreckage and/or debris left on the seabed from the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010,” the Coast Guard said.
The sheen was reported on 16 September by BP about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana and near where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and then sank more than two years ago. The well that rig had been drilling took months to cap and contain, with millions of barrels of oil spewing into Gulf waters in the meantime.
The sheen spotted last month is not feasible to recover and poses no risk to the shoreline, according to the Coast Guard.
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