The oil tanker Perenco sued in Paris for “ecological damage” in the DRC
The oil company Perenco was sued on Wednesday in Paris by two French NGOs, who want to see the French group condemned to repair the environmental damage of its drilling in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Friends of the Earth and Sherpa announced in a press release that they had summoned “the French company Perenco SA before the Paris court, because of the ecological damage that would be caused by the group’s activities in the DRC”.
The two associations “intend to obtain recognition of civil liability” from the company and compel it “to stop and repair this damage”, under the 2016 biodiversity law which established a compensation scheme for ecological damage.
Founded by the Breton entrepreneur Hubert Perrodo, the company, not listed on the stock market and therefore unknown, has made his family the 15th French fortune, according to the 2022 ranking of the magazine Challenges.
With 6,000 employees and approximately 500,000 barrels per day declared, Perenco is a small player in the global oil and gas sector, present in 15 foreign countries. It is the only company in operation in the DRC, where its subsidiaries exploit 11 oil fields on the seafront of Muanda.
Perenco has been implicated “for years in numerous reports, investigations and arrests by the Congolese Senate, local associations and international NGOs for serious damage to the environment and the health of populations”, write Sherpa and the Friends of the Earth.
“The French company Perenco SA, whose head office is located in Paris, denies any link of control over the other companies of the group when questioned about the damage resulting from activities abroad”, report the NGOs.
“However, the multinational does not hesitate to claim French nationality for its benefit”, accuse the NGOs, citing the example of a dispute in which Perenco allegedly took advantage of a bilateral agreement between France and Ecuador to obtain “374 million dollars” before an arbitration tribunal.
According to these NGOs, Perenco “is organized into a myriad of front companies, most of which are registered in tax havens such as the Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Bahamas”.
Since 2019, these NGOs have tried to obtain the documents establishing their legal links through a bailiff. Despite a final procedural victory in 2022, they could not obtain them and resolved to launch their summons to the merits.
“Perenco is committed to ensuring the health and safety of its employees and communities and is developing an environmental approach to control and mitigate the impact of its activities,” defended a spokesperson for the group contacted by AFP. , highlighting the “social, environmental and economic actions” deployed by Perenco in each country.
