Mobil apologises for oil leak

Oil spill in Tauranga Harbour.

UPDATE: Mobil have identified that a fuel oil leak has come from a pipeline during a ship refueling operation.

The pipeline was quickly shut down and will remain closed until repairs can be carried out and technical experts are now on site to conduct further investigations, said a statement released by Network Communications this evening.

Mobil Oil New Zealand Lead Country Manager Andrew McNaught said in the released statement that Mobil regrets this event has occurred.

"We apologise for the incident and for any concern and inconvenience caused to the community. We would like to assure them we are working as quickly as possible to safely manage the situation, to clean up the leaked fuel oil and minimise the impact on the environment.

"Mobil appreciates the efforts of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in responding promptly and effectively to the incident. We will reimburse the Council for any direct costs incurred in the spill response and clean-up.

"We are aware that several boats have been impacted by the fuel oil. Mobil is liaising with the local marina operator about boat cleaning procedures. We recommend that clean-up is handled by an expert," said Mr McNaught.

Mobil has established a process to deal with claims and will consider claims for damage directly resulting from the leaked oil.

Community queries can be directed to Mobil's community hotline during business hours on 0800 895 011."

EARLIER: International fuel giant Mobil has confirmed it owned the pipe which leaked oil into Tauranga Harbour.

Mobil was refueling a ship in Tauranga Harbour yesterday when an oil spill was noticed in the water.

Mobil New Zealand public affairs manager Samantha Potts told the Bay of Plenty Times Mobil was a refueling a ship on the water yesterday when a sheen was observed.

"We immediately shut down our fueling operations at the wharf. We have identified the sheen was originating from a fuel pipe line, which was shut down straight away and is still currently shut down."

Ms Potts confirmed Mobil owned the pipe that leaked.

Ms Potts said yesterday's rough weather conditions had helped disperse the fuel.

"The priority is containing any remaining fuel oil on the water and cleaning up any impacts on the local environment."

Mobil is working with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to assess the situation and respond as needed, Ms Potts said.

At this stage, Mobil had no idea of the volume of fuel that leaked into the harbour.

"We don't know what the cause [of the leak] was. There was a leak from the pipe line as far as we can tell. There will be a full investigation to understand why this happened."