China blames U.S. oil company for spill

China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) has come out swinging — a month after an oil spill in its northern Bohai Bay.

The SOA said today that U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips is responsible for the spill that was first reported on June 4, and which the agency says has polluted an area of 840 square kilometers (324 square miles), the China Daily and Xinhua reports.

A "certain level" of environmental damage has occurred, SOA said. A separate spill occured June 17, the agency added.

According to the China Daily the Penglai 19-3 oilfield is being mined by ConocoPhillips China, a subsidiary company under ConocoPhillips, which is working under a joint development agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's biggest offshore oil producer.

The leak is now reportedly under control and China is investigating the incident.

Dead seaweed and rotting fish have been reported in the area, though it's not yet clear if this particular oil spill is to blame.

Here's the China Daily on that economic and environmental angle:

"The oil leak will definitely influence the fishing industry nearby but we must carry out further investigations to see if the oil leak is the direct reason for the dead seaweed and fish," said a representative from the fisheries association in Changdao county. "The environmental impact caused by the oil leak is long-term," the man named Xiao told China Daily on Monday.

So far ConocoPhillps has not commented on today's developments, according to the AP.

Oil-thirsty China — the world's largest energy consumer — is no accident to oil spills, of course.

The country's worst oil spill happened almost a year ago in Dalian when an oil pipeline expoded, sending oil across an area of 430 square kilometers, or 165 miles.