Amplify Energy Statement on U.S. DOJ Announcement

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Amplify Energy and its employees are committed to safe operations that keep our people, the environment, and the communities in which we operate safe at all times. That is the operating commitment we strive to uphold, and the prompt actions and reasonable care our employees demonstrated in responding to events on October 1 and 2 reflect that commitment.

Over the course of the timeframe in question, Amplify's offshore platform and onshore pipeline personnel worked together to troubleshoot and rectify what were believed to be false leak detection system alarms. Following each alarm, the crews investigated various components of the platform and the pipeline's instrumentalities to determine what could be contributing to what were thought to be false alarms. Unbeknownst to the crew during this period, and further complicating their efforts, however, was the fact that the pipeline's leak detection system was not functioning as designed, but was repeatedly and wrongly signaling a potential leak at the platform where no leak could be detected by the platform personnel and where no leak was actually occurring. Instead, as the factual record shows today, the leak occurred over four miles away, where the pipeline had been displaced more than 100 feet by a ship's anchor - a fact not shared with Amplify by anyone with knowledge of that anchor-dragging incident. Had the crew known there was an actual oil spill in the water, they would have shut down the pipeline immediately.

When a line ride the morning of October 2 identified a sheen in the water, the Company immediately began to execute its federally-approved oil spill response plan.

Since the spill, the Company has worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) as part of the Unified Command, and also with many other federal, state and local agencies on the remediation efforts.  The Company is grateful for the efforts of all parties involved, and the Company will continue to collaborate closely as cleanup and restoration progresses.