Oil leak at Petrobras Abreu e Lima Refinery

Petrobras reported that it communicated the occurrence to the authorities and that the causes of the leak are being investigated, but that Rnest operates normally.

On the night of Monday, August 26, an oil and water leak was recorded at the Abreu e Lima Refinery (Rnest), at the Suape Complex, in Ipojuca, Greater Recife. According to Petrobras, the product reached a stream that runs within the company's boundaries. In June of this year, the Abreu e Lima refinery was put up for sale by the state-owned company, the process will be divided into two phases and is expected to end in 2021.

Petrobras informed that the leak occurred at the industrial waste treatment station of Rnest and that, as soon as the leak was identified, security and emergency teams were immediately called in to contain and repair the affected area. The leak was controlled on Monday night, according to Petrobras.

According to the CPRH, there were three cubic meters of oil and two cubic meters of water. Due to the leak, two stretches of the expressway that crosses the Suape Industrial and Port Complex were blocked so that the material suction service could be carried out. Teams from Suape and the CPRH monitor the work.

In a note, Petrobras informed that it communicated the occurrence to the authorities and that the causes of the leak are being investigated, but that Rnest operates normally. According to the general coordinator of the Union of Workers in the Petroleum Industry of Pernambuco (Sindipetro-PE), Rogério Almeida, the substance reached an area of ​​mangroves.

The type of oil that leaked was not informed, but, according to the Suape Complex, the material is not flammable. The port also said in a note that the refinery is now working to contain and collect the oil.

The note sent by the Port of Suape also says that “the causes of the leak will be analyzed both by a multidisciplinary team from Rnest and by the CPRH, the environmental control body that is adopting the necessary measures”, and also said that it is still evaluating the extent of the leak and the measures taken by the refinery, to assess whether or not a fine is due.

In a note, the CPRH states that the damage caused by the leak is being assessed. “The problem occurred in the oil and water separator box with an overflowed volume of 5 cubic meters, 3 cubic meters of oil and 2 cubic meters of water”, says the agency, in the text.

Also according to the CPRH, the refinery “installed seven containment barriers on site, with trucks carrying out suction of floating material”.

The CPRH declares that work at the site continues during the afternoon of yesterday, the 27th, to verify the extent of the leak. "However, so far it is possible to state that the material is confined", says the note.

Petrobras began the sale of onshore fields in Bahia this Monday, August 26th.