Peru suspends oil company's operations after disastrous spill

Peru suspends oil company’s operations after disastrous spill

Feb 05, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Even as four officials of Spanish oil giant, Repsol, remain barred by a judge from leaving Peru over an oil spill disaster there, the country is now mounting more pressure on the company by suspending its operations.

Peru’s Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramirez.

In fact, Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) in a statement noted that the company’s operation will remain suspended until its contingency plan is modified and when the government is satisfied that there will be no more reoccurrence of an oil spill from Repsol.
The oil spill occurred on January 15, 2022 at one of the La Pampilla refineries off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru. It was reported that the spill was caused by shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. At the time of the undersea eruption, Suezmax tanker, Mare Doricum, was offloading a shipment of Brazilian crude oil at one of La Pampilla refinery’s offshore mooring buoys, and as such, a quantity of the cargo was released.
Repsol had underreported the quantity of crude that was spilled but later investigations by Peru’s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA) revealed that almost 12,000 barrels of oils was spilled – more than double the amount that was initially reported by the company.

Images from the aftermath of the oil spill. [Photo credits: Getty Images, AFP, and Reuters]

As a result of the devastating oil spill, several Peruvian officials had called for the Spanish oil giant to compensate for what they described as an ‘ecological disaster’ that has occurred in Lima in recent times.
Peru’s Foreign Ministry tweeted that the oil spill has not only caused serious damage to hundreds of fishermen’s families, but also endangered the country’s flora and fauna in the area. As a result, they stated that the sanction must be strict and the company must be held responsible for what happened.
However, according to Peruvian media reports, a Repsol official denied the liability for the spill and also called it an accident.
The first action that was taken by the Peruvian government is when a Specialised Prosecutor for Environmental Matters for Lima, Noroeste, approached the Peruvian court, seeking an order to prevent four Repsol executives from leaving the country. The prosecutor is considering a criminal case against the company’s representatives and as such, he approached the district court to issue an order preventing the Repsol executives from leaving the country – in order to ensure that they will be available for any possible criminal proceedings.
Based on the prosecutor’s submission to the court, Judge Romualdo Aguedo on Friday, January 28, 2022, granted the order to prevent the four executives from leaving the country. Peruvian media reported that Judge Aguedo imposed an 18-month ban on the grounds of the potential risk that the officials might leave Peru.
Those that have been barred are refinery manager, Jaime Fernández-Cuesta Luca de Tena; terminal manager, Renzo Alejandro Tejada Mackenzie; environmental manager, Gisela Cecilia Posadas Jhong; and production manager, José Gregorio Reyes Ruiz. It was reported that the lawyers for the Repsol executives did not appeal the decision and said that they will collaborate with the investigation.
In taking additional steps, it was revealed that Peru’s Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramirez, on Monday announced that the government has taken the decision to suspend the company’s hydrocarbon loading and offloading activities.
In other words, it means that Repsol’s operation in the country will be halted until it can substantially prove that another oil spill will not occur again in its waters.
According to the release, the Minister said that in light of the ecological disaster, it has been requested that Repsol’s contingency plan be modified.
“There have been no clear cleanup and remediation actions in the face of the disaster caused,” he stressed.
“These measures are intended to prevent the occurrence of emergency situations that cannot be controlled by the company in the shortest time possible, in order to avoid environmental degradation or damage to environmental components (aquatic fauna and flora, seabirds, water, soil and sediments); this is in accordance with current legal regulations and the rule of law that prevails in the country,” the release further noted.
Moreover, the Ministry stated that up-to-now Repsol has not guaranteed with certainty that it is prepared to deal with a new hydrocarbon spill in the other three hydrocarbon loading and unloading lines that it operates in our sea.
Also, on the contrary, the Ministry stated that unclear actions by the operator to compensate for the damage caused have been evident. “We are all called to safeguard our planet,” he remarked, after highlighting the leadership of his ministry and its role in conserving the environment and natural resources.
On Tuesday, the Minister visited the facilities of the La Pampilla Refinery to inspect the work plan that the operating company Repsol has been developing regarding the cleaning and remediation of the areas damaged by the oil spill.
During the visit, he said that he has seen some progress in the company’s work plan. He added however, “But we have to do an evaluation” and stated that a team of specialists from his sector will be in charge of monitoring and evaluating the suitability of the work.
Additionally, on Tuesday, the Minister ratified the measures to stop hydrocarbon loading and offloading operations ordered by the OEFA, which will be maintained until the operator demonstrates that its work does not allow the occurrence of another spill. “We have to make sure these systems are working,” he stressed.
This publication had reported that OEFA alleges that Repsol has not complied with orders related to the cleanup effort for these areas, and the agency has issued an initial fine of $4.8 million. While speaking at a press conference, OEFA director, Miriam Alegria, is reported in Peruvian media stating that the agency believes Repsol had failed to reach the deadline to identify areas affected by the spill. As such, she noted that if it is determined that the order has not been followed, an additional “coercive fine” may be imposed on the oil giant and each further infraction comes with a potential monetary penalty.
Repsol had said in a statement that it would “continue working to remedy the impact generated by the oil spill, deploying all our efforts and monitoring all activities by air to detect possible new affected areas.” However, MINAM’s attorney-at-law, Julio Cesar Guzman told Exitosa Noticias, that Repsol could face liabilities of up to $500 million in compensation for the effects of the spill.
As the Government of Peru continues to take action to protect its people and its environment, Guyana in contrast, continues to give Exxon permission to operate without full coverage insurance to cater to such a disastrous oil spill.