An oil spill, which appeared to originate from Venezuela's El Palito refinery several days ago, has contaminated a bay off the country's north-central coast in the Caribbean Sea, five sources told Reuters.
Biologist Eduardo Klein posted satellite images on X that he said showed an oil slick of about 225 square kilometres in the Golfe Triste and completely covering Morrocoy National Park, known for beaches lined with palm trees and mangroves.
— diodon histrix (@diodon321) #15Ago esta es la enorme mancha de petróleo que #PDVSA derramó en #GolfoTriste. 225km² de afectación (37 mil canchas de fútbol!) suficiente para cubrir completamente al PN #Morrocoy. Se ve como la mancha llegó a las playas de #BocadeAroa. https://t.co/nJLp2miWos pic.twitter.com/cj9TYwLQbxAugust 16, 2024
There was no immediate comment from the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela PDVSA or the oil ministry.
The El Palito refinery, with a capacity to process 146,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is Venezuela's smallest oil refining complex and located in the Puerto Cabello municipality on the coast of the central state of Carabobo.
"The spill came from El Palito. This morning some beaches in Boca de Aroa woke up with a lot of hydrocarbons on the shore and it affected some boats, some artisanal fishing boats," one of the sources told Reuters.
Another source said he saw three large oil slicks that washed ashore.
