PERU has filed a suit against Spain’s energy firm Repsol over the massive oil spill that ravaged its coast in January, seeking US$4.5 billion (RM19.7 billion) in damages.

The suit is filed against six firms: Repsol (Spain), Mapfre Global Risks (Spain), Mapfre Peru Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (Peru), La Pampilla Refinery (Peru), Transtotal Maritime Agency (Peru) and Fratelli d’amico Armatori (Italy, owner of the tanker involved), said Peru’s consumer protection agency.

“These suits can create precedents for oil spills that cause damage and collective non-material damages due to environmental pollution of coastal areas,” said Julian Palacin, National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) executive director, in a statement released late Friday.

Indecopi has sought US$3 billion for environmental damage to the coast in the country, and another US$1.5 billion as compensation to consumers, locals and others affected by the disaster, said the suit.

Repsol in a statement yesterday rejected the suit as baseless.

“(Indecopi’s) estimates lack the bare minimum needed to support the indicated figures,” said the Spanish oil company, regarding the US$4.5 billion sought by Peru.

The spill occurred on January 15, while Italian-flagged tanker Mare Doricum was unloading crude oil at the Repsol-owned La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30km north of Lima.

The firm attributed the incident to waves caused by a massive volcanic eruption on the island of Tonga, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and the Peruvian government described it as an “ecological disaster”.

The spill affected more than 700,000 residents, mostly fishermen, and forced the closure of 20 beaches and dozens of businesses in the area. – AFP, May 15, 2022.