German Company Oiltanking Ebytem’s Hydrocarbon Spills Impact Buenos Aires Refineries
Following two hydrocarbon spills at the German company Oiltanking Ebytem’s Bahía Blanca estuary near the port of Coronel Rosales, refineries around Buenos Aires will halt production of 150 million liters of diesel needed for the upcoming harvest campaign. The halt in production, due to start in the coming weeks and last until April, equates to a little over 10% of the monthly diesel demand.
Oiltanking Ebytem experienced two environmental incidents within days of each other, occurring on December 26 and January 17. As a result, the Ministry of Environment of the province of Buenos Aires suspended the company’s operations and initiated a judicial investigation.
Despite the Ministry of the Environment lifting the suspension on January 22, Oiltanking Ebytem is currently operating with only one of its two monobuoys to unload crude oil shipped from the south of the country. This oil is then injected into pipelines to be transported to refineries around Buenos Aires.
Throughout January, refineries stopped receiving 170,000 m3 of crude oil. In February, Oiltanking Ebytem has reported an expected drop in volumes of 103,000 m3 of oil.
The Environmental Impact
The spills potentially caused environmental damage, prompting action by the Ministry of Environment. Five days after the second incident, the Ministry lifted the suspension, highlighting that repairs had been made and operation suspension had been lifted.
On Saturday, January 20 at 8:30 p.m., Oiltanking Ebytem reported the completion of the monobuoy repair. The Ministry of Energy of the Nation and Naval Prefecture have certified that there are no technical objections to resuming operations.
The oil company has been ordered to swiftly implement a Remediation Plan for the natural heritage affected by the spills. Personnel from the Ministry of Environment of the Province will remain on-site to ensure complete remediation and compensation by the company.
The Ministry reminded that two hydrocarbon spills were detected near the Port of Coronel Rosales due to failures in Oiltanking Ebytem’s monobuoys. Following the first event, the Ministry ordered the company to initiate a Contingency Plan and initial sanitation of affected areas, and applied sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws.
The Water Authority also sanctioned the company for violating environmental regulations. Oiltanking Ebytem has confirmed the completion of the monobuoy repair as of January 17 in a recent press statement. The company stated that the work was documented and certified by the inspectors of the RINA Classification Society.
