Concerns abound as Trinidad recovers from worrying oil spill

Aug 10, 2021 News

– Unbothered Guyana continues oil production with limited insurance coverage

Kaieteur News – After admitting to an oil leak caused by a faulty line, Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited, which is a Trinidadian company, was on Sunday trying to contain an oil spill.

The FFS Corporate Secretary, Gary Aboud, displaying the result of the spill.

In a release published by the Trinidad Guardian yesterday, the company indicated that a leak along a 12-inch crude pipeline on land was identified as the source of the spill. It noted too that the requisite repair works were undertaken and the line was isolated at approximately 11.35hrs. on Sunday.
The release stated too that assurance checks conducted by the company revealed that there are no additional leaks along the pipeline. As such it noted that the spill is contained and residual clean-up is currently ongoing.
Reporting on the disaster, the Trinidad Express had revealed that an oil sheen along the Pointe-a-Pierre harbour was discovered around 19:30hrs. on Saturday by the company’s marine security. The company stated that its Incident Command Team was activated and personnel were immediately dispatched to locate the source of the leak.
The company stated however, that a further sea survey early Sunday morning discovered areas of oil sheen and oil streaks located north of the Pointe-a-Pierre port. A shoreline survey was also conducted. The company, even then, according to the Trinidad Express, had stated that it would deploy clean up assets to minimise the impact of the spill on the environment.
It mentioned then that absorbent booms were being strategically placed to prevent further migration of oil into the sea as well as vacuum trucks to remove oil collected on land. It noted too that oil streaks were being mechanically broken up at sea.
Despite these claims, Loopnews, which also reported on the spill, pointed to the fact that Corporate Secretary of conservation group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFS), Gary Aboud, who shared videos of the spill in the Gulf of Paria, on Sunday called for officials to address the matter urgently as the video disputed the alleged use of oil containment booms.
In one of Aboud’s videos, he stated that all of the fishermen of the Gulf of Paria were being forced to pay a heavy price for government negligence. This comes after he mentioned the poor overlooking of petroleum company of Trinidad and Tobago, Petrotrin, which was a state-owned oil company.
He said that the company was closed two years ago and addressed the issue of the infrastructure not being properly maintained. “If we allow it to dilapidate and we funnel all the earnings of Petrotrin towards other purposes, then look at what happens to our environment,” stated Aboud as he picked up a clump of the crude oil floating above the water’s surface, the report added.
The Trinidad oil spill has brought to the fore Guyana’s unpreparedness for such a disaster given the fact that its oil production is not protected by full coverage insurance. Despite repeated concerns being raised by many commentators, Guyana, to date, remains without comprehensive insurance coverage from the Stabroek Block operators – ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC/NEXEN.

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