Kuwait's national oil company in state of emergency over oil leak

Kuwaiti Control Operator Nasser Athbi works at the new Gathering Center-24 in the northern oil fields of Sabriya. (Photo by Reuters)

Kuwait's national oil company has declared a state of emergency over an oil leak in one of its southwestern oil fields.

A statement by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) on Monday did not identify the onshore oil field affected by the leak which began Sunday but the state-run Kuwait News Agency said the leak had happened at the al-Maqwa field.

The KOC said there's no sign of a toxic gas leak. It offered no details about how many barrels of oil had been spilled.

Menahi Al­Enezi, also acting deputy CEO for administrative and financial affairs, said in a press statement that KOC teams were at the scene and responding to the situation in accordance with the relevant protocol.

OPEC member Kuwait is a major oil producer. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Kuwait produces some 2.7 million barrels of crude oil a day and holds the world's sixth-largest oil reserves.

In August, Kuwait announced a spill at its Ahmadi field. A February fire struck another oil well after a spill.