Kuwait declares state of emergency over oil leak on shore

The oil leak is in one of its southwestern oil fields.

Powered by automated translation

KUWAIT CITY // Kuwait’s national oil company has declared a state of emergency following an oil leak in one of its southwestern fields.

Monday’s statement by the Kuwait Oil Company did not identify the onshore field affected by the leak, which began on Sunday.

The state-run Kuwait News Agency said the leak hit the al-Maqwa field.

The company said there was no sign of a toxic gas leak. It provided no details about how many barrels of oil had been spilled.

Opec member Kuwait is a major oil producer. The US Energy Information Administration said Kuwait produces about 2.7 million barrels of crude oil a day and holds the world’s sixth-largest oil reserves.

In August, Kuwait announced a spill at its Ahmadi field. A February fire struck another oil well after a spill.

* Associated Press