Alert in Kuwait: State of emergency declared after oil spill

In a “state of emergency” after oil spill which was observed in a land area declared on Monday (20/3) the Kuwait the state-owned oil company, Kuwait Oil Company;

As specified in the relevant announcement no casualties or production problems have been reported.

The company emphasizes that a state of emergency has been declared due to an oil spill in the western part of the country.

“The leak occurred in a non-residential area, there were no injuries and production is not affected,” company spokesman Qusai Alamer said without specifying the exact location.

“No toxic release has been observed at the site,” he added, as reported by the Athens News Agency, pointing out that teams have been sent to the scene to identify the source of the leak and contain it.

Kuwait’s al Rai newspaper posted a photo on Twitter showing a large amount of oil coming out of a pipeline in an arid landscape.

Kuwait is one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil. Almost 90% of the country’s revenue comes from oil. An important member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), it currently produces approximately 2.7 million barrels per day.

Kuwait Oil Company has reported several spills in recent years.

In 2017, two oil spills were detected off the coast of the country within a few days.