Venezuela said an oil spill it linked to Trinidad and Tobago had caused serious environmental damage along Venezuela’s coast and in the Gulf of Paria, a gulf that both countries share near Trinidad. 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 area.
Venezuela said the spill posed a threat to mangroves and wetlands and to what it described as the environmental balance of the region. The ministry also said the Venezuelan government requested information about the incident, including an action plan for mitigating and containing the spill, and it demanded reparations measures under international environmental law.
Venezuela did not say when it first detected the spill or specify how much oil it believed had been spilled. Trinidad and Tobago, however, disputed the scope described by Venezuela, saying the spill involved only 10 barrels and that it was contained the same day it was detected on May 1.
Trinidad and Tobago’s government and the state oil company that detected the spill said they did not disclose it until after Venezuelan authorities complained. They said there was initial concern that “hydrocarbon material could cross the Trinidad/Venezuelan border in the Gulf of Paria,” but they added that the spill was quickly contained.
The dispute centers on the shared geography of the Gulf of Paria, an inland sea at Venezuela’s westernmost end and south of Trinidad. In the 1990s, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago signed a delimitation treaty establishing the terms for exploiting hydrocarbon deposits on both sides of the border strip, according to the report.
Trinidad and Tobago’s government said it carries out significant oil and gas exploration activity on land and in shallow waters. The country is also described in official information as one of the Caribbean’s largest producers, a context that places heightened scrutiny on how spills are detected, assessed and disclosed when they could affect neighboring coastlines.