Esso is in the process of decommissioning more than a dozen oil and gas rigs in Bass Strait.

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This masthead recently revealed Esso applied to the federal government for permission to “abandon in situ” eight decommissioned steel platforms – including Kingfish A – that have reached the end of their lifespans around Bass Strait in the Gippsland basin.

Louise Morris, oil and gas campaigner with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the leak was “part of a vast network of ageing and rusting offshore gas rigs in our oceans all overdue for decommissioning”.

“From the information available, this pipeline is in the early phases of decommissioning, and it’s deeply concerning that there is no clarity on how much oil condensate and decommissioning cleaning chemicals have been released into the ocean in this reported pipeline rupture,” she said.

“What we do know from Esso’s statement to the regulator is that there is a ‘sheen’ on the ocean surface which ... is now travelling through the ocean between Tasmania and Victoria through endangered blue whale habitat and countless other rare and threatened species, doing harm as it disperses into the ocean environment.”

The Kingfish oil field in Bass Strait was the first oil field discovered in Australia, in 1967.

A spokesman for ExxonMobil said the West Kingfish platform was “currently non-producing” and work was underway on Saturday to contain the leak.

“All work on the platform has been stood down and Esso is now using its aircraft to perform aerial observations of the sheen, and we expect the sheen will dissipate quickly,” he said.

“We are investigating the source of the sheen and, in an abundance of caution, we have commenced depressuring the West Kingfish to Kingfish A pipeline.

“Esso has notified all relevant authorities and will continue to provide updates as required. We will continue to investigate to identify the source of the sheen.”

The Gippsland Lakes wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention because of their importance to many endangered and threatened waterbird species.

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