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Lithuanian officials investigating Butinge oil leak |
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| LITHUANIA: November 30, 2001 | ||
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VILNIUS - Lithuania's transport ministry said yesterday an investigation was underway at concern Mazeikiu Nafta's Butinge terminal to determine the cause of last week's oil leak that froze terminal's operation.
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"The unit has been disassembled and is not operating... The commission initiated by Prime Minister (Algirdas Brazauskas) will finish the work on Tuesday," said deputy transport minister Arijus Ramonas, heading the commission. Ramonas added dates for the reopening of the terminal would not be discussed until the commission finishes its work on December 4. Mazeikiu said at least 9.6 tonnes of crude leaked into the Baltic Sea on November 23, causing loading operations to be indefinitely halted, in the worst incident at Butinge since it started operation in 1999. Butinge is an offshore terminal with a floating buoy with a capacity of 160,000 barrels per day. Mazeikiu has said operations will not be restarted until the terminal's safety is confirmed. Mazeikiu had planned to load some 200,000 tonnes (1.5 million barrles) of Russian Urals crude by the end of the month.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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