Oil spill at Catshill field

STATE-owned oil company Petrotrin has once again activated its oil spill response system after a spill was found at its controversial Catshill oilfield in Moruga yesterday.

In a media release, Petrotrin said its operations, health, safety and environment (HSE) as well as its security personnel were sent to the field. The company did not say why security was sent to the site.

The company said it had activated its oil spill response system and incident command team “and has provided the necessary resources to effectively manage this incident.”

It added, “All efforts are currently being made to ensure that the recovery and rehabilitation operations are done in a timely and safe manner so as to minimise the impact to the environment,” the company stated adding, “The regulatory agencies including the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries have been notified of the incident.” On February 28, Petrotrin took control of the Catshill Field, previously operated by A&V Oil and Gas Ltd, after the private lease operator lost its legal battle in the Privy Council to prevent the company from terminating its contract.