Santa Cruz Oversees Cleanup Following Oil Spill

The Santa Cruz Provincial Government intervened following an environmental incident recorded on September 17 at the El Escorial 1 deposit, located in the Santa Cruz portion of the San Jorge Gulf Basin and operated by Pan American Energy (PAE).

The spill occurred while work was underway to condition the main access road. During these operations, a motor grader accidentally struck a buried valve connected to a Manifold 8 pipeline.

The volume of hydrocarbon fluid released was estimated at 0.5 cubic meters, affecting approximately 359 square meters. After detecting the incident, the company closed the valve to stop the leak and deployed equipment to contain the material.

Ongoing work in the area includes the removal of affected soil and remediation, carried out by contractor companies. The provincial environmental authority verified ground conditions, inspected containment measures, and formally documented the incident.

The State Secretariat for Energy and Mining Environmental Inspection and Control, under the Ministry of Energy and Mining, is maintaining oversight of the work until completion. The operations were scheduled to conclude during the morning of September 19, though the timeline remained subject to operational progress and execution conditions.