Delay in Sentencing for Tui Offshore Oil Spill

By MCLEAN, Glenn

TUI oilfield operator Australian Worldwide Exploration will not know how much it will be fined for a major oil spill for three weeks.

The exploration company, along with contractor Prosafe Production, was due to be sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday.

Both companies face a fine of up to $200,000 for breaching the Maritime Transport Act last October after 23 cubic metres of oil was spilled from the processing ship at the Tui oilfield, 60km off the Taranaki coast.

The oil washed up on the Okato coastline.

But after submissions from both prosecuting and defence lawyers, as well as a representative from Nga Mahanga A Tairi hapu, Judge Stanley Thorburn said he wanted time to consider arguments.

Earlier, prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk, of Wellington, called for a fine near the maximum for what he described as an incident that could have had catastrophic consequences.

As it was, oil remained evident on the coast for at least 21 days, while it remained and was redistributed to a number of beaches with high tides for at least eight months. It is expected it will take at least a year for the oil to disappear.

Mr Vanderkolk said the spill had occurred because of unsound work practices.

An aggravating factor he asked the judge to consider was that it took a member of the public to discover the spill and notify the Taranaki Regional Council.

He believed it would have caused the regional council a significant amount of stress and anxiety because it initially did not know the size of the spill it were dealing with.

Mr Vanderkolk said the culpability lay equally with both companies.

Counsel for Prosafe Production, Susan Hughes, QC, said the spill was not a vast volume of oil and the fine should reflect that.

She said Prosafe Production did not initially know there had been a spill because the oil had, unusually, sunk. A single fine apportioned between the two parties was appropriate, Ms Hughes said.

Lauren Wallace, counsel for AWE, submitted a fine of between $80,000 and $100,000 was appropriate between the two companies.

She urged the judge to avoid the “deep pocket syndrome” associated with oil companies.

Judge Thorburn said he hoped to have a decision in three weeks.

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