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Oil spill triggers crisis

MOSCOW: An oil spill has occurred in one of Russia's largest export pipelines, causing a potential ``environmental catastrophe,'' Russian officials said on Monday. The spill in the western province of Byransk, near Russia's western border with Ukraine and Belarus, affected a 10-sqkm area and contaminated local water sources, a Natural Resources Ministry statement said. ``Judging by information reaching the Ministry from representatives of environmental organisations ... the consequences of the accident may be an environmental catastrophe in the region,'' the Ministry said. The 4,000 km Druzhba pipeline has the capacity to ship over 1.2 million barrels a day and generally works at or close to its full capacity. Ministry spokesman Rinat Gizatulin said that the leak happened on Saturday but only became public on Monday. However, an official from state pipeline operator OAO Transneft downplayed the importance of the spill, saying that it had only affected an area of 360 sq. metres and the consequences had been dealt with over the weekend. — AP

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