© RFI/Yves-Laurent Rubber
Platform off Port-Gentil, Gabon. (Illustrative photo)
After the leak detected Thursday at a terminal in Cap Lopez, near Port-Gentil, the management of the Perenco company ensures that the situation is under control, but NGOs fear marine pollution in the event of rain. A government delegation visited the site.
With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Rubber
Members of the Gabonese Network of Free Organizations for Good Governance (ROLBG) discreetly visited the Port-Gentil site. They filmed and the videos made the rounds on social networks. A leak in a tank containing 50,000 cubic meters of crude, or 300,000 barrels, caused hydrocarbon spills causing the terminal to shut down completely. Crude oil has spread over much of the complex.
Christian Bernard Rékoula, of ROLBG, is convinced that a risk of marine pollution is possible. “ What we fear is that these thousands of barrels could quickly reach the sea because with the pressure exerted by these thousands of barrels – add to that the rainfall – easily there will be an overflow resulting in a massive spill of this crude in the ocean which is less than a hundred meters away. »
The retention tanks have “fully played their role”
On the side of Perenco which manages the installations, serenity is in order. ” As can be seen on the photographs that have been circulated, the volumes from storage tank R17 were contained in the retention tanks provided for this purpose. These retention tanks are safety devices, provided in the event of an incident on storage tanks, and in this case, they fully played their role. »asays Adrien Broche, Managing Director of Perenco Gabon.
However, the export of oil to the international market remains suspended from this terminal, the largest in Gabon.