Spanish energy giant agrees to compensate thousands over oil spill

LIMA: Peru on Friday announced an agreement with Spanish energy giant Repsol to compensate thousands of people affected by a devastating oil spill that polluted beaches and killed wildlife.

Almost 12,000 barrels of crude spilled into the sea off Peru on January 15 as a tanker unloaded oil at a Repsol owned refinery.

Peru’s government said on Twitter it had managed to “get Repsol to sign an agreement of care and economic compensation to those affected by the oil spill” off the coast of Ventanilla, close to the capital Lima.

Repsol had blamed the spill on freak waves caused by a volcanic eruption more than 10,000 kilometers away near Tonga.

Peru described the incident as an “ecological disaster.”

The government says at least 5,000 fisherman and shopkeepers lost their livelihoods due to the polluted sea and beaches.

The deal, signed by Chief of Staff Anibal Torres and Repsol Peru president Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta, sees Repsol committing to pay a minimum of 3,000 soles ($789) to those affected within a week of the agreement being finalized.

The figure could also rise.

Repsol reiterated in a statement its “commitment to remedy the damages provoked by the spill to the communities in the affected area.”

The company said it has already donated 3.3 million soles in aid.

Last month, Repsol said it had cleaned up 98 percent of the spilled oil, although the government said the figure was far less.

The environment ministry says that at least 1,400 hectares of land and sea and 500 hectares of protected nature reserves have been affected.

Repsol has paid $363,000 in fines to the Peruvian state over the spill.