Paige Taylor The Australian 11 Nov 10;
THE company being sued over last year's Montara oil spill claims environmental reports back its claims no oil reached the Indonesia coast.
Thai-owned PTTEP is being pursued by the Indonesian government for $2.4 billion in compensation over the spill.
Oil and condensate poured into the Timor Sea for 74 days after the Montara wellhead blew out in August last year.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Australian subsidiary of Thai-owned PTTEP said the company was anticipating fines over the spill, and had received documents on October 13 relating to Indonesia's claim for compensation.
Officials from Jakarta have already held talks in Perth with PTTEP Australia, which has asked to meet next month with the Indonesian official leading the claim for compensation, Deputy Environment Minister Masnellyaiti Hilman.
The company yesterday detailed key findings of three surveys from the Montara monitoring program agreed to by the company and the federal government, including a series of coastal water samples from Broome and Darwin that showed no identifiable oil contamination.
The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is expected to publish the survey results within days. The samples were taken between November 9 and 18 last year.
A water sample in Darwin port was found to contain oil but the concentration was too low to find out if the oil came from the Montara spill, a process called "fingerprinting".
One of the surveys, conducted by Asia Pacific Applied Science Associates, found that oil "did pass into Indonesian water, albeit for relatively short period, but did not enter inshore waters or impact shorelines".
Modelling concluded the movement of dispersed oil was localised. The area with hydrocarbons on the surface was a maximum of 11,183sq km on any given day.
Those conducting the survey did not have access to the Indonesian coast.
Environmental group WWF has claimed the slick killed sea life and damaged the Indonesian fishing industry.
Activists in West Timor claimed catches were down 80 per cent. Indonesia claims the spill spread to East Nusa Tenggara, one of its poorest provinces.
It is also blamed for ruining seaweed farms in Rote.
