ConocoPhillips Trashes Northern China with an Oil Spill

China Daily shares this via Xinhua (state media... like ABC, CBS, etc...):

China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said Tuesday that US energy giant ConocoPhillips is responsible for an oil spill in the country's northern sea area.

The leak, which took place last month at the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in Bohai Bay, has polluted an area of 840 square kilometers, causing "a certain level" of damage to the nearby oceanic environment, said the administration.

The field is being mined by ConocoPhillips China (COPC), a subsidiary company under ConocoPhillips, under a joint development agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the country's largest offshore oil producer.

ConocoPhillips has also teamed up with Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. to drill 350 kilometers off the northwest coast in Australia at Browse Basin.

There's no such thing as free.