Non-governmental organizations, including the Mexican branch of Greenpeace, yesterday reported a massive oil spill, estimated to cover 400 square kilometers, in the Gulf of Mexico near a gas rig where an explosion and fire killed two people on July 7.

The leak, confirmed by satellite photos, according to an NGO statement, began on July 4. They denounced the “complete opacity” of the authorities on the oil spill.

Mexico’s state oil company PEMEX acknowledged later on Tuesday that there had been a leak, but stressed that the “quantity of hydrocarbons” that has contaminated the Gulf is “minimal”.

“Most of the quantity that was dispersed was immediately recovered,” he added in a press release he released.

The company dismissed the NGO’s “malicious” estimate, stressing that “if it were true” it would mean that “over one and a half million barrels of oil” leaked, while it itself spoke of a leak of 365 barrels.

PEMEX, however, did not comment on the satellite photos released by the NGOs.

The organizations speak of a frightening increase in accidents of this nature, by 152% in the last two years.

PEMEX, emblem of Mexican oil dominance and national sovereignty, has a huge debt, exceeding 107 billion US dollars.