Thai Oil Public Company Limited (SET: TOP) has announced that on June 5, 2025, at approximately 11:54 p.m., a crude oil spill occurred at the company’s Single Buoy Mooring No. 2 (SBM-2), located offshore from the TOP’s refinery in Sriracha District, Chonburi Province.
The company claimed that this incident was caused by unforeseen circumstances involving high waves and sudden strong gusts of wind.
In response, the company immediately suspended oil transfer operations in accordance with established safety procedures. The SBM-2’s breakaway coupling—a critical emergency safety mechanism—was automatically triggered as designed to protect the SBM-2 system.
During the process of shutting the protective coupling valves, a small volume of oil was released. This limited release is a known design trade-off intended to prevent greater damage to the SBM-2 system.
Prior to the incident, oil containment booms had been deployed as part of routine protocol. As of this report, there has been no further oil leakage and the SBM-2 has not sustained any damage.
The visible oil sheen on the sea surface was caused by a portion of oil escaping containment due to high waves and strong winds. Critically, no injuries were reported in connection with the incident.
The company is now executing its oil spill response plan and collaborating with both governmental and private agencies to remove the oil sheen. TOP stated that it will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.
