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Camisea, an example of how we improve our partners performance

Camisea is a strategic and vital project for Peru. Approximately 40% of the electricity consumed in Peru is generated from gas produced in Camisea and more than 1.2 million families have access to natural gas in their homes. 200,000 vehicles use the gas produced in Block 88 as fuel.

In 2005, Repsol acquired a 10% stake from Hunt Oil. The Camisea consortium is operated by the Pluspetrol company.

Block 88 is located in the Lower Urubamba Basin, in the district of Megantoni, in the province of La Convencion, Cusco, Peru and 2/3 of its area overlaps with Kugapakori, Nahua, Nanti Territorial Reserve.

In 2000, the Peruvian government established the Block 88 concession and awarded a contract to Camisea consortium led by Pluspetrol. Block 88 has been producing natural gas and natural gas liquids since 2004 from the San Martin field and since 2008 from Cashiriari field. Nowadays, 95% of sales of natural gas (distribution, domestic, industries, and power generation) comes from Block 88, and more than 40% of the total electrical energy generated in Peru comes from the gas of Block 88.

In 2003, Kugapakori, Nahua, Nanti Territorial Reserve enhanced its legal protection. Oil & Gas operations that precede this statement are permitted, although subject to special measures to protect indigenous communities in voluntary isolation or initial contact. The Peruvian Ministry of Culture is the institution in charge of ensuring and inspecting compliance with these measures.

Independent external report on the operations in Camisea

Close-up of hands stacked on to of each other

Between the months of June and November 2021, Akuaipa Transformation, a business project that seeks to promote a social and economic transformation that guarantees a better performance on human rights, analyzed the arguments of the different controversies related to the Camisea project activity.

Within the scope of this review, Akuaipa reviewed all historical and current information provided by Repsol and Pluspetrol and various public reports from Peruvian institutions, as well as from social and indigenous organizations. Additionally, several meetings were held with the Repsol, Pluspetrol, and Akuaipa teams.

Based on the review of all the documentation on the Camisea project and the meetings with the various teams, Akuaipa prepared a detailed analysis report on these disputes. Throughout the document, several recommendations are proposed for each of the raised controversies that will improve compliance with international standards on human rights in the framework of the Camisea project.

View report |PDF| 624 KB

Protection of communities of Camisea in voluntary isolation

Shot of a river running through the Amazon forest

The Consortium applies the strictest standards to protect the communities in voluntary isolation.

The main mitigation measure is the Anthropological Contingency Plan |PDF| 740 KB, which describes the procedure to be followed if a sighting or contact is made with respect to a community in voluntary isolation. The plan also includes information on the implementation of a no-contact principle and avoiding by all means establishing any type of communication with said people. This mitigation measure complies with the main international standards:

Other important measures

Offshore in land: This involves the application of offshore production techniques onshore as part of the Company's commitment to work without creating roads or paths.
Access control: Collaborative surveillance between access control watchtowers and river control watchtowers.

Exploration activities in Block 88 (2012-2015)

2012

The "Environmental Impact Assessment for the expansion of the exploration and development program in Block 88" was submitted.

2014

A favorable opinion on the Expansion Assessment was issued by the Vice-Ministry of Interculturality of the Ministry of Culture.

Environmental impact assessment

(Only available in Spanish)

Additional measures in the exploratory project

The Environmental Impact Assessment followed the highest measures for the protection of people in isolation and initial contact:

Limiting the area of exploratory activity

To only 0.3% of the Block's area and 0.1% of the reserve's surface

Anthropological Contingency Plan

Meeting international standards for the protection of indigenous communities in voluntary isolation

Limiting impacts

Medical exams and vaccinations for workers, logistics through helicopters, confined camps, and advanced units comprising indigenous guards and medical personnel

Compensation fund

In benefit of peoples in isolation and for initial contact in the Territorial Reserve

Block 88	Area	RTKNN
In	Out
	(Ha)	%	(Ha)	%	(Ha)	%
Original	143,500.00	100%	105,255.1	73.3%	38,244.9	26.7%
New	82,803.5	57.7%	55,367.5	66.9%	27,436.0	33.1%
Released	60,696.5	43.3%	49,887.6	82.2%	10,888.9	17.8%

Due dilligence

We exercise due diligence in all our operations and are committed to complying with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, regardless of the legislation of each country. Through the Due Diligence process, we assess the real or potential effects of our activities in different countries.

The context and the social, economic, and cultural particularities are analyzed, the impacts are assessed, and actions are taken with the commitment to maximize the positive consequences and minimize or mitigate the negative ones.
We exercise due diligence in all our operations and are committed to complying with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, regardless of the legislation of each country.
Through the Due Diligence process, we assess the real or potential effects of our activities in different countries. The context and the social, economic, and cultural particularities are analyzed, the impacts are assessed, and actions are taken with the commitment to maximize the positive consequences and minimize or mitigate the negative ones.

As part of this Due Diligence, transparent, continuous, and participatory dialogue is held from the early stages of the projects with the communities and indigenous peoples of the areas where we operate in a context of respect for human rights. This dialogue is adjusted to the cultural characteristics of each ethnic group or community, involving the representative bodies of the indigenous communities.

In our non-operated assets, we ensure that our partners are aware of our policies, internal regulations, and best practices and make available our knowledge and techniques for the development of their objectives. Accordingly, the partner and operator of the Camisea project, Pluspetrol, has been assisted in strengthening its respect for human rights within the project, to make public its actions and commitments in relation to human rights and due diligence, and to deepen and maintain dialogue with the communities in its area of influence and with the rest of the stakeholders.

In addition, we have had a positive influence on the operator Pluspetrol to bring its human rights standards more in line with international standards. Pluspetrol is currently developing an internal analysis process to define a procedure for the application of due diligence in the Camisea project.

Social and environmental performance

Pluspetrol has been developing management and social investment plans in each of the communities in the Camisea direct area of influence. Among other actions, the following stand out:

Community environmental monitoring programs
Biodiversity monitoring programs
Agreements and other social programs
Anthropological Contingency Program
Social Supervision and Control Program

Lower Urubamba community environmental monitoring programs

Through community organizations that register reliable information on Camisea operations, the Community Environmental Monitoring Program (PMAC) monitors these operations and provides transparency on environmental and social management.

Find out more about the program

Biodiversity monitoring programs

The Biodiversity Monitoring Program (PMB) is a long-term scientific project that monitors changes in biodiversity related to the project. It also generates recommendations to prevent and mitigate impacts on the area of influence.

Learn about the program

Compliance with agreements and other programs

The Onshore Offshore Operation is part of the Company's commitment to work without creating roads or paths and to concentrate its facilities at the Malvinas Plant to cause minimum impact. This minimizes the colonization of other villages and illegal businesses.
Communication and Consultation Program: It's carried out in order to promote communication channels with the communities and keep fluidity and transparency in the information about the operations, responding to the concerns of the different stakeholders and ensuring respect for the right to consent of indigenous peoples. Among others, the following actions were developed: Informative workshops, coordination meetings, maintenance and control of the grievance mechanism, and stakeholder mapping.

Anthropological Contingency Program

This program is carried out to prevent socio-cultural and health impacts that may occur in populations in contact and/or initial isolation as a result of the development of the activity. The actions related to the program are developed in coordination with and under the supervision of the Vice-Ministry of Supervision and Monitoring of Interculturality.

A man speaking to a group of people surrounded by a rainforest

Social Supervision and Control Program

This program is aimed at complying with the social actions outlined in the Environmental Impact Assessment and ensuring that these are carried out in accordance with applicable national and international regulations.

Dialogue with communities

The Camisea consortium promotes dialogue with the involved indigenous populations that are based on the principles of good faith, transparency, flexibility, interculturality, respect, and recognition. Consensus and agreements are established with the indigenous communities for compensation for the activities carried out in the Camisea project.

These dialogues are maintained throughout the life cycle of the Camisea project.

The following examples of the Camisea Consortium dialogue and agreements with indigenous communities and other stakeholders can be highlighted:

Consultations and workshops conducted by Pluspetrol as a result of the EIA.

Aware of the sensitivity of the Camisea project expansion activities, Pluspetrol designed a process of early engagement with the different stakeholders. Between 2010 and 2011, Pluspetrol conducted 4 workshops (through the Futuro Sostenible organization) with different stakeholders: government organizations, experts from isolated communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and indigenous organizations. The objectives of the workshops were to gather the recommendations to be included in the EIA, to show how the recommendations have been included in the EIA, to communicate and explain the results of the baseline, and finally, to explain the next steps and how the project would be carried out. For more information about intercultural dialogue, click here >

Monthly meetings of the Multi-stakeholder Compensation Committee and the Communication and Information Exchange Plan with the inhabitants of the reserve

These are monthly meetings to exchange information between Pluspetrol, the Peruvian government, and the indigenous communities in the Camisea project's area of influence.

Major issues in Camisea

Protecting communities in voluntary isolation
Mercury contamination
Legal proceedings

Protecting communities in voluntary isolation

There have been some reports and allegations of possible sightings and contact with peoples in voluntary isolation in the framework of the Camisea project. There is no proof or evidence of the sightings or non-voluntary contacts that allegedly occurred in 2003.

James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, published a report stating that, "The Special Rapporteur has found that in many cases these allegations have been speculative and inaccurate, and unrelated to the information contained in the company's EIA or the Government's assessments."

Since then, no incidents have been reported, and any third-party complaints have been dismissed by international organizations.

View document

Mercury contamination

There have been reports of mercury contamination in the area of communities in voluntary isolation, and some organizations report that the origin of the contamination may be in the Camisea operations.

Since the start of operations, all Camisea gas production processes have been approved and supervised by the corresponding agencies of the Peruvian State (OEFA, OSINERGMIN, DGAAH), without there being any indication that the mercury contamination could come from Camisea's activity. In addition, there are monitoring implemented such as the PMB and PMAC mentioned above, which independently supervise the state of biodiversity and compliance with Camisea's socio-environmental obligations to ensure that there are no negative effects on the communities or the ecosystem.

On January 25th, 2018, the Camisea Consortium issued a press release in which it ruled out "any possibility that gas exploitation activities could cause mercury contamination, neither in the population nor in the environment.

See press release

Legal proceedings

There are several lawsuits against the Camisea project that have not been resolved by the Peruvian courts. These lawsuits were mainly filed by the Institute for the Environment Legal Defense and Sustainable Development (IDLADS) and the Inter-Ethnics Association for Peruvian Forest Development (AIDESEP).

Several of the lawsuits have resulted in court rulings that demonstrate their inappropriateness and the absence of condemnatory judicial resolutions against the Camisea project.

Currently, only one of the claims has reached the Constitutional Court adding in the appeal the violation of the right to prior consultation. However, it should be noted that to date, there is no ruling against the Camisea project for violation of human rights.

Documents related to mercury management

(Only available in Spanish)

Camisea, an example of how we improve our partners performance

Exploration activities in Block 88 (2012-2015)

Additional measures in the exploratory project