Vietnam orders probe into oil spill mystery

HANOI, Feb 8 (Reuters) Vietnam's environment chief has ordered an investigation into a mysterious oil spill that blackened some of the country's most popular beaches, state media reported today.

''The source of the oil could be a spill from the oil rigs or tankers,'' the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper quoted National Enviroment Agency Director Tran Hong Ha as saying.

The agency would work with international organisations and investigators to collect evidence and assess the impact of the oil spill on the environment to press charges against the culprits, he said.

Yesterday, state oil monopoly Petrovietnam chief Tran Ngoc Canh told state media he had ordered inspections of all offshore oil rigs and found no leaks.

Petrovietnam produces around 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day, most of it from rigs off the central coast and exported to refineries and power plants in Japan, South Korea, China, Australia and Singapore.

Residents have collected by hand around 350 tonnes of crude oil along Danang beach and all 125 km of coastline of Quang Nam province including Hoi An, a UNESCO heritage site.

Hundreds of Vietnamese, including soldiers, have been called on to work against the clock to clean up the oil pollution but the source of the spill remains a mystery, officials said.

REUTERS MS VV0901