Cleaning teams work to remove oil along the shore after an oil spill in the Ventanilla Sea in the province of Callao stained the beaches of the district area in Lima, Peru on January 20, 2022.Photo: AFP

Peru has filed suit against Spanish energy company Repsol over the massive January oil spill that ravaged its coast, seeking $4.5 billion in damages.

The lawsuit was filed before the 27th civil court in Lima against six companies: 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), Peru's consumer protection agency said.

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

INDECOPI has sought $3 billion for environmental damage to Peru's coast, and another $1.5 billion as compensation to consumers, locals and others affected by the disaster, the suit says. 

Repsol in a statement Saturday rejected the suit as baseless.

"[INDECOPI's] estimates are lacking the bare minimum needed to support the indicated figures," the Spanish oil company said, regarding the $4.5 billion sought by Peru.

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

The oil company 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."

AFP