Oil spill due to pipe rupture in Mumbai

An oil spill was reported off the Mumbai coast following a rupture in Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) main trunk pipeline that carries crude oil from Mumbai High fields.

The Mumbai-Uran Trunk oil pipeline had a small rupture last evening, causing oil spill in the Arabian sea, company officials said.

"The oil leakage has been controlled and control measures have been initiated to deal with the small spill in the sea," an official said.

Another official said there was power tripping yesterday due to rains, which led to a small leakage developing in the pipeline.

"The SCADA system in the pipeline reported the leak to the control room which immediately stopped the flow by diverting the crude oil to a parallel line," he said.

The leak was plugged by morning and ONGC teams were using chemicals to control the small quantity of oil floating on the sea surface.

Officials said operations at Mumbai High oil and gas field remain unaffected and they are producing normally.

The Mumbai-Uran Trunk Oil pipeline had in January 2011 ruptured causing a major oil spill, 80 km away from Mumbai's coast. The spill had at that time spread to around 4 sq km.

In August this year, an oil spill has been reported in the coastal areas of Gulf of Khambhat following a rupture in ONGC's pipeline near Bhadbhut village of Bharuch district of Gujarat.