California Oil Spill Forces Exxon Mobil to Halt Drilling

Exxon Mobil stopped drilling at three offshore platforms in California last week in the wake of a pipeline’s closure after a big oil spill, the company said Tuesday.

A spokesman said the company had submitted an emergency request to Santa Barbara County to temporarily transport oil via truck, the Associated Press reports, but the County decided the situation didn’t constitute an emergency, leaving Exxon Mobil will little choice but to halt operations. Investigators looking into the cause of last month’s spill—of up to 101,000 gallons of crude onto the coastline—recently found a section of the pipe was extremely corroded.

Before last week, Exxon Mobil had been producing a third of the oil it typically produces from three oil rigs. The oil was stored in an onshore facility that has now reached capacity.

[AP]