Shell has laid containment and absorbent booms and sprayed dispersants. No oil patches are currently observed in the vicinity of Pulau Bukom. MPA and Shell have deployed cleaning boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Bukom Island, using both dispersants and absorbent booms.
The agencies are closely monitoring the situation, and have deployed satellites and drones for surveillance.
“As a precaution, oil absorbent booms will be laid at Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa,” they added.
Shell Shuts Down an Oil Processing Unit at Pulau Bukom to Investigate Leak
Media Release 27 Dec 2024
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and National Environment Agency (NEA) were informed by Shell that they have shut down one of its oil processing units at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park at Pulau Bukom, to facilitate investigation into a suspected leak in the system.
2. The oil processing unit is used to produce refined oil products such as diesel. Water drawn from the sea is used as part of the process to cool the refined oil products in the unit.
3. Shell estimated that a few tonnes[1] of the refined oil products were leaked, together with the cooling water discharge.
4. Shell has laid containment and absorbent booms and sprayed dispersants in the channel where the cooling water is being discharged. The in-built oil skimmer system in the channel has also been activated. Containment and absorbent booms have been laid at the mouth of the channel, to prevent residual oil leaked from spreading into the sea. No oil patches are currently observed in the vicinity of Pulau Bukom.
5. MPA and Shell have deployed boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Pulau Bukom using both dispersants and absorbent booms.
6. Agencies are closely monitoring the situation and have deployed satellites and drones for surveillance. As a precaution, oil absorbent booms will be laid at Sisters' Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa.
7. Navigational traffic in the area is not affected. There is no impact to bunkering operations in the Port of Singapore.
8. Further updates will be provided if there are significant developments. NEA is investigating the incident with MPA and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered.
<End>
[1] The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) categorises oil spills of less than 7 tonnes as small.
Suspected oil leak at Shell's refinery at Pulau Bukom; containment measures taken to prevent spread
Shell estimates that a few tonnes of oil were leaked from its refinery at Pulau Bukom.
ChannelNewsAsia 27 Dec 2024
SINGAPORE: Shell has shut down an oil processing unit at Pulau Bukom to facilitate investigations into a suspected leak in the system, government agencies said in a joint statement on Friday (Dec 27).
The oil processing unit at the Shell Energy and Chemical Parks is used to produce refined oil products such as diesel. Water drawn from the sea is used as part of the process to cool the refined oil products in the unit.
“Shell estimated that a few tonnes of the refined oil products were leaked, together with the cooling water discharge,” said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), National Environment Agency (NEA), National Parks Board (NParks) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC).
Shell said in a separate statement that oil sheens were spotted alongside a wharf on Thursday at the facility on Pulau Bukom.
“This is suspected to be from one of the oil processing units, resulting in some of the refined oil products to be released into the water,” said the company, adding that “emergency response specialists” have been activated to manage the situation.
Shell has laid containment and absorbent booms and sprayed dispersants in the channel where the cooling water is being discharged. The in-built oil skimmer system in the channel has also been activated.
“Containment and absorbent booms have been laid at the mouth of the channel, to prevent residual oil leaked from spreading into the sea. No oil patches are currently observed in the vicinity of Pulau Bukom,” said the agencies.
MPA and Shell have deployed boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Pulau Bukom using both dispersants and absorbent booms.
The agencies said they are closely monitoring the situation and have deployed satellites and drones for surveillance.
As a precaution, oil absorbent booms will be laid at Sisters' Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa.
“Navigational traffic in the area is not affected. There is no impact to bunkering operations in the Port of Singapore,” they added.
“Further updates will be provided if there are significant developments. NEA is investigating the incident with MPA and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered.”
Shell said the health and safety of its employees and the environment were its "top priority" and that it was working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
Shell shuts down oil processing unit on Bukom Island to investigate suspected leak
The suspected leak could involve an oil processing unit at the Shell Energy and Chemical Parks on Bukom Island.
Gabrielle Andres Straits Times 27 Dec 2024
SINGAPORE – British petrochemical giant Shell has shut down one of its oil processing units on Bukom Island to investigate a suspected leak, and has informed the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA), the authorities said on Dec 27.
The oil processing unit, located at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park, is used to produce refined oil products such as diesel, said MPA, NEA, the National Parks Board and Sentosa Development Corporation in a joint statement on Dec 27.
Water drawn from the sea is used to cool the refined oil products in the unit.
Shell estimated that a few tonnes of the refined oil products were leaked – together with the cooling water discharged, the agencies said.
This leak came after more than 30 tonnes of slop – a mixture of oil and water – were leaked into the sea between Bukom Island and Bukom Kechil from a land-based Shell pipeline on Oct 20. Shell is still under probe for taking more than seven hours to notify the authorities about this incident.
Following the latest leak, Shell has laid containment and absorbent booms, as well as sprayed dispersants in the channel where the cooling water is being discharged, the agencies said. The in-built oil skimmer system in the channel was also activated.
No oil patches are currently observed in the vicinity of Bukom Island, the agencies said.
MPA and Shell have deployed cleaning boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Bukom Island, using both dispersants and absorbent booms.
The agencies are closely monitoring the situation, and have deployed satellites and drones for surveillance.
“As a precaution, oil absorbent booms will be laid at Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa,” they added.
Navigational traffic in the area is not affected, and there is no impact to bunkering operations in the Port of Singapore.
“NEA is investigating the incident with MPA and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered,” the agencies added.
In the incident on Oct 20, Shell said the oil from its land-based pipeline spilt into a holding area but some overflowed into the water channel between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.
The leak started at about 5.30am on Oct 20, with MPA alerted at about 1pm.
At about 3pm, the leak was stopped, and clean-up operations were completed on Oct 29.
Oil leak at Shell’s Pulau Bukom refinery stopped, clean-up of oil sheens completed
Shell is trying to locate the source of the leak at its oil processing unit.
ChannelNewsAsia 28 Dec 2024
SINGAPORE: The oil leak at Shell's refinery at Pulau Bukom has stopped and clean-up of oil sheens spotted off the island has been completed, government agencies said in a joint statement on Saturday (Dec 28).
Shell previously said that some of its refined oil products were released into the water due to a suspected leak at an oil processing unit on Pulau Bukom.
Oil sheens were spotted alongside a wharf on Thursday at the Shell Energy and Chemical Parks, prompting authorities to put containment measures in place.
It was estimated that a few tonnes of refined oil products were leaked, together with the cooling water discharge.
No more oil was observed going into the cooling water discharge channel after Shell shut down its oil processing unit on Friday, the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the National Environment Agency (NEA), the National Parks Board (NParks) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) said on Saturday.
"Efforts by Shell to locate the source of the leak in the oil processing unit are ongoing," they added.
CONTAINMENT MEASURES
Giving a timeline of events, the government agencies said on Saturday that the oil sheens were discovered by Shell at around 9.30am on Thursday, and were reported to MPA and NEA at 11.58am and 1.15pm respectively.
An MPA craft reached the site of the incident at 12.15pm to assess the situation and to provide support.
"Initial assessments on Dec 26 (Thursday) determined the scale of oil sheens to be minor, with no risk to public safety or environmentally sensitive areas, given the containment measures Shell had implemented," the agencies said.
Shell laid containment and absorbent booms and sprayed dispersants in the channel where the cooling water is discharged.
MPA deployed three patrol craft on Friday when Shell requested support to speed up the cleaning of the oil sheens off Pulau Bukom.
There have been no sightings of oil sheens or oil patches in the waters off Sentosa, and its beaches remain open for water activities, said the agencies.
However, as a precaution, oil-absorbent booms have been laid at Sisters' Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa.
"NEA is investigating the incident with MPA, and actions will be taken if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered," said the agencies.
In a separate statement, Shell said on Saturday that it would continue to work closely with the authorities to monitor the situation.
"We continue to cooperate with the authorities on the investigations, and learn from this incident to improve our safety performance," it said.
Shell's facility on Pulau Bukom is its only energy and chemicals park in Asia.
The affected oil processing unit is used to produce refined oil products such as diesel. Water drawn from the sea is used as part of the process to cool the refined oil products in the unit.
"The leak in Shell’s oil processing unit is a different system from Shell's earlier slop pipeline leak on Oct 20," said the agencies, referring to the incident where about 30 to 40 metric tonnes of "slop" - a mixture of oil and water - leaked from a Shell land-based pipeline into the sea between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.
Shell was being investigated for allegedly taking more than seven hours to notify the authorities about the leak on Oct 20. NEA had also directed Shell to carry out a comprehensive pipeline integrity check across their Bukom plant.
from NParks facebook post
from NParks facebook post 28 Dec 2024.
