MOSCOW- A pipeline spill in Russia's northwestern region of Komi leaked 100 tonnes of oil last week, including nine tonnes that flowed into a local river, the head of state environment watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said on Monday.
An oil slick was found flowing down the river Kolva, the official, Svetlana Radionova, said on social media.
Lukoil said a clean-up operation was under way following a leak at a pipeline leading from its Oshskoe field to facilities that serve the Kharyaga field in a neighbouring region.
The energy-rich Komi region witnessed one of the worst oil spills in Russian history in August, 1994, when its aging pipeline network sprang a leak that was officially said to have totalled 79,000 tonnes, or 585,000 barrels. Independent estimates put the figure at up to 2 million barrels.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Olesya Astakhova and Tom Balmforth; editing by Jason Neely) ((vladimir.soldatkin@reuters.com; +7 495 775 12 42;))
