PETROPERÚ urges protesters who have seized Station 5 of the North Peruvian Pipeline to dialogue

Around 150 people are still taking over the facilities of Station 5 of the North Peruvian Pipeline (ONP), in Manseriche, Datem del Marañón province, Loreto, demanding a solution to a series of social demands from the State. Given this, PETROPERÚ urged the representatives of the federations that promote these actions to make their claims in a peaceful manner, through dialogue with government institutions, maintaining social peace, avoiding violent actions that put their lives at risk and continue paralyzing the hydrocarbon industry.

As is known, the measure of force - adopted last October 4 - is promoted by the Awajún Native Federation Río Apaga (Fenara) and the Peoples Affected by Petroleum Activity (PAAP), in demand of a series of projects related to services basic.

Within the framework of the rule of law and respect for the rules, only through dialogue is it possible to reach agreements to solve the problems that afflict the communities, hence PETROPERÚ insists on calling for consideration to avoid putting the people's lives and oil activity in our Amazon; even more so considering that Station 5 and the other stations of the North Peruvian Pipeline are a basic support for the investments and operations of the oil companies, which benefit thousands of people, generating jobs directly and indirectly.

Likewise, the state-owned company has alerted the authorities of the danger that people, inside the facilities, are preparing their food without considering the serious risk that this entails, since only a spark could cause a fire. Furthermore, any source of ignition, such as campfires or even the use of cell phones, could set off fires and explosions with dire consequences.

Due to this measure of force, PETROPERÚ is prevented from having control of the facilities, a situation that makes it impossible to carry out any operational action, as well as to attend to emergencies in the event of a contingency or accident, caused by unsafe activities of the occupants.

It should be noted that the personnel of the Andoas and Morona Stations, located in the North Branch of the ONP - as well as the workers of Stations 5 and 6 - were promptly evacuated, in order to safeguard their physical integrity.

At the moment, there are 27 days in which the oil transportation service by the ONP is paralyzed, generating a loss of around 3 million dollars. Likewise, we have in Station 1, more than 400 thousand barrels of crude in the storage tanks, waiting to be transported and 130 thousand barrels of crude, immobilized in floating barges in the Marañón river; a high-risk situation from the point of view of the safety of neighboring towns, facilities and the environment.

Once again, PETROPERÚ invokes the representatives of the aforementioned federations to lay down their measure of force, to abandon the facilities and make their claims in a peaceful manner, avoiding these actions that put their lives at risk.