Nowhere in the hemisphere have the risks associated with the oil industry been more graphically illustrated recently than in Peru when, back in January, a tanker spilled oil at a refinery owned by the Spanish oil company Repsol, the mishap reportedly directly affecting more than 700,000 Peruvians and causing the authorities there to have to effect an elaborate and costly cleanup.
On account of the oil spill and its consequences, Repsol and other lesser players in Peru’s oil industry are now confronted with a Peruvian lawsuit in which a total of US$4.5 billion is being sought for the physical and environmental damage caused by the oil spill.
