Peru stops oil offloading after Repsol spill

Peru's government effectively shut down the country's largest refinery on 31 January, more than two weeks after an oil spill fouled the ocean off the coast of the capital Lima.

Environment minister Ruben Ramirez said Spain's Repsol would not be allowed to receive crude at its mooring system at the 117,000 b/d La Pampilla refinery. He said operations unloading and uploading crude would be suspended until Repsol offered technical guarantees at the refinery.

"Repsol has not provided assurances that it could deal with another spill at the other three moorings it operates" at La Pampilla, Ramirez said today.

Close to 12,000 bls of crude spilled on 15 January when the Italy-flagged Suezmax Mare Doricum was in the process of unloading 1mn bls at one of La Pampilla's four moorings. The company originally claimed less than 1 bl had spilled, but now admits that 10,396 bls spilled. The environment ministry puts the number at 11,900 bls and claims that 44 kms of coast have been contaminated.

The company said 35pc of the crude has been recovered and that it was using satellite and artificial intelligence to facilitate clean-up. Ramirez disputes this.

"Repsol has not demonstrated clear actions regarding clean up and remediation," he said.

The state had already taken other actions. On 28 January, a judge ordered Repsol Peru president Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta and three executives to remain in Peru for 18 months. The environmental oversight agency OEFA estimates that administrative fines alone would be more than $50mn.

Taking La Pampilla offline is a gamble for the government. Peru's other large refinery, the 65,000 b/d Talara refinery operated by state-owned PetroPeru, has been closed for two years for a $5.4bn modernization.

PetroPeru said on 30 January it could cover the country's needs. It has a 56pc market share of gasoline and 40pc in diesel.

Repsol acquired La Pampilla in 1996 in a privatization. It also has a 10pc stake in Peru's Camisea natural gas complex, operated by Argentina's Pluspetrol, and operates gas block 57, adjacent to Camisea. Camisea's two blocks and block 57 accounted for nearly all of Peru's 1.1bn cf/d gas production in 2021.

By Lucien Chauvin