Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said late Saturday that an oil spill originating in Trinidad and Tobago had caused serious environmental damage along the coastlines of at least two states, prompting demands for information, a mitigation plan, and reparations under international environmental law. Trinidad and Tobago’s government disputed the extent of the spill Sunday, saying only 10 barrels were released and that it was contained the same day it was detected, on May 1.
In a letter addressed to the international community, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said initial assessments found “severe risks” to ecosystems in the states of Sucre and Delta Amacuro and in the Gulf of Paria, an inland sea shared by the two nations. The spill poses a threat to mangroves, wetlands and the environmental balance of the region, the statement said.
Venezuela did not specify when it first detected the spill or how much oil was released. The government requested details about the incident and the action plan for containing and mitigating the spill, and demanded reparations in accordance with international environmental law.
Trinidad and Tobago’s government and its state oil company did not disclose the spill until after Venezuela’s complaint, according to the Associated Press. Trinidadian authorities said there was initial concern that the “hydrocarbon material could cross the Trinidad/Venezuelan border in the Gulf of Paria,” but added that the spill was quickly contained.
Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago, which in the 1990s signed a delimitation treaty establishing terms for exploiting hydrocarbon deposits on both sides of the border strip, share the Gulf of Paria. Trinidad conducts significant oil and gas exploration on land and in shallow waters and is one of the Caribbean’s largest producers, according to Trinidad’s Ministry of Energy.