Bulletins
Three scientific studies commissioned by PTTEP Australasia, the company behind last year's Montara oil disaster off the Kimberley coast, has found that no oil reached Australian or Indonesian shores and most of the oil stayed in Australian waters.
The reports have been criticised by conservation groups for contradicting earlier evidence on the size and area of the oil slick.
One report found more than 98 per cent of the oil was confined to Australian territorial waters with the bulk found within 82km of the source of the leak.
It said the duration of the spill ensured that some patches of oil eventually drifted into deeper waters "where fast-moving currents associated with the Indonesian through-flow carried weathered oil patches some significant distance from the source".
Indonesian fishermen are seeking compensation from PTTEP and the Australian Government claiming oil from the spill has affected fish stocks and fish contaminated by oil and dispersants used to break up the oil have poisoned villagers.
A spokesman for fisherman Ferdi Tanoni, director of the West Timor Care Foundation, disputed the studies' claims and called for the Government to fund a scientific study on the impact of the oil on fishing grounds and seaweed farms in Indonesia.
An Asia-Pacific ASA report was based on a re-analysis of slick trajectories and said modelling that suggested the oil had drifted further from the wellhead had been based on "worst-case parameters" and had "overestimated possible oil positions to minimise the chances of losing track of oil".
It said the heaviest fresh oil was concentrated in area about 12 nautical miles from the release site.