More fines for company involved in disastrous oil spill in Peru

Feb 19, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – Spanish Oil company, Repsol, which is involved in the disastrous oil spill that struck the coast of Peru, has been slapped with more fines by the Peruvian government.
Almost one month after the spill, the country is still grappling with the cleaning up of the aftermath of more than 12, 000 barrels of crude that contaminated its shores – a Peruvian official has recently announced that the company is not fulfilling its obligation. However, the country continues to take actions against Repsol.
According to a recent press release from Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM), the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Control (OEFA) – an agency attached to the Ministry, has reported that Repsol has paid three coercive fines of a total amount of Sol$1,380,000 (US$362,285). It was stated that the three coercive fines were for the failure to comply with three of the 14 measures ordered: identification of the areas affected by the spill, cleaning of the affected areas, and containment and recovery of hydrocarbons (crude).
According to the update from Peru’s ministry, in light of the three breaches by the oil company, the OEFA has also initiated sanctioning administrative procedures, where the fines can be up to Sol$55,200,000 (US$ 14,808,852).
To this end, it was noted that, if the oil company continues to fail to comply with the 14 administrative measures issued by the OEFA, new coercive fines will be successively imposed until compliance. In addition, if responsibility for violations of environmental regulations is determined, fines of up to Sol$304,060,000 (US$81,572,097) is likely.
It was also stated that, “the OEFA as the environmental control authority, reaffirms its commitment to continue carrying out daily supervision to verify compliance with the 14 measures ordered from Repsol and imposing the respective sanctions for non-compliance with them.”
Kaieteur News recently reported that the Peruvian government has initiated the first periodic fine against the Spanish oil giant. It was reported that Repsol has already received the first coercive fine, of Sol$460,000 (US$121,500) for the non-compliance of identifying the areas affected by the oil spill and in addition, a sanctioning administrative procedure was initiated for the non-compliance where the fine can be up to Sol$18.4 million (US$ 4,835,742).
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 OEFA revealed that almost 12,000 barrels of oils was spilled – more than double the amount that was initially reported by the company.
MINAM Minister Modesto Montoya had revealed, during a television programme, that Repsol is not fulfilling its obligation as it relates to the clean-up of the aftermath of the oil spill. Montoya shared that a white foam, similar to that of detergents, formed as a result of the Repsol oil spill. The Minister also shared that the foam is killing the wildlife that inhabits the Bay of Ancón and the National Reserve System of Guano Islands, Islets and Points. He said, “There is white foam that is killing everything on the surface.” The minister further explained that the contaminated substance makes young birds die of hypothermia. He had specified that to date, only about 2,000 barrels of oily liquids have been recovered, from the more than 11,000 barrels of crude that contaminated their waters.
This publication had reported that following devastating oil spill, several Peruvian officials had called for the oil company to compensate for what they described as an ‘ecological disaster’ that has occurred in Lima in recent times.
The first action that was taken against the company is when 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.
In taking additional steps, it was revealed by Peru’s former Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramirez, on Monday, January 31, 2022, that the government had taken the decision to suspend the company’s hydrocarbon loading and unloading activities. In other words, it meant that Repsol’s operation in the country was halted until it can substantially prove that another oil spill will not occur again in its waters.
However, in an update shared on the Ministry’s Facebook page, a fuel shortage in Peru had forced Peru’s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA), to lift the suspension temporarily of the operations of Repsol. However, the company will only be allowed to continue its operations for 10 days and under supervision from the OEFA.
As the Government of Peru takes action to protect its people and its environment, Guyana in contrast, continues to give American oil giant, ExxonMobil, permission to operate without full coverage insurance to cater to such a disastrous oil spill. Just recently, ExxonMobil announced that it has commenced oil production at Guyana’s second offshore development area called Liza Phase Two in the Stabroek Block.
Among the oil companies working in Guyana’s backyard is the very oil company –Repsol – that caused the oil spill in Peru.

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