Kuwait continues oil spill examinations

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Kuwait's government said Iran has verified there were no reports of oil spilled from its tanker or pipelines following reports of Persian Gulf sheen.

Kuwait reported an oil spill of its southern coast during the weekend. Reports of sheen and oil-stained beaches were near where Kuwait National Petroleum Corp. is building a refinery that can process as much as 615,000 barrels of oil per day.

Reports from the official Kuwait News Agency, or KUNA, offered no indication of the size of the release or any suggestion of what lead to the incident.

On Wednesday, KUNA said it had confirmation from Iran that no oil spills were reported from their tankers or pipelines. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said earlier this week the government was coordinated with its neighboring countries to identify the source of the release.

The government reported earlier this week it discovered more sheen, which could be related to a separate incident.

Kuwait is situated at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and near the Iraqi oil port at Basra. Apart from Bahrain, every nation that borders the Persian Gulf is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The first batch of oil left a Kuwait port for Vietnam in early August and a second cargo of 2 million barrels left last week. Ghanem al-Otaibi, a vice president at Kuwait Petroleum International, said the vessels were expected to dock in Vietnam in the next few days.