ConocoPhillips China, under pressure to give out definitive answers over two leaking oil platforms, failed to deliver the goods this week.

At a news conference on Wednesday company representatives detailed efforts to seal the leaks in North China’s Bohai Bay and to clean up wastes, but they failed to say why the leaks happened or how they were affecting the environment.

The company "has not received any notification or claims on compensation issues so far", its President, Georg Storaker, said.

Farmers in Hebei province say they have suffered disastrous losses because of the spill and that they want compensation.

By Ji Xiang