In an industry is awash with cash and record profits, it is tragic to see five people confirmed dead in an accident on a Perenco platform offshore Gabon, and one other worker still missing, presumed also killed, as per the most recent update.
Last Wednesday, there was a fire on the Becuna platform in Simba oil field, the company reported, but the circumstances remain unclear – and are likely to remain so.
As a privately-owned company owned by one of France's richest families, Perenco has no public shareholders or investors to whom it must explain itself, and Gabon is a country with a shocking approach to safety.
Perenco has no excuse for lax safely procedures given that it produces over 100,000 barrels per day equivalent in Gabon, and is owned by the billionaire Perrodo family, famed for their racing cars, castles and vineyards. Much of the family's billions in assets is held through shell companies in tax-havens, making it hard to track exactly what they own, but Forbes recently put the family's net worth at US$9.6 billion.
In 2020, we ran an extensive piece on Perenco's vertically-integrated business model. The company is focused on production and spends next to nothing on exploration… and it is not known whether it also spends next to nothing on safety and maintenance in Gabon, but I am hopeful that is an area that the company will address.
Instead, Perenco buys old, usually shallow-water fields from the majors and it squeezes costs, extending field life and trying to raise production from the mature assets. In 2023, it acquired "non-core" stakes in various fields in Congo from ENI for US$300 million. It owns its own anchor handlers, its own barges, its own FPSOs, and its own drilling rigs.
In 2017, Perenco paid US$350 million to buy five fields producing 13,000 barrels per day and a pipeline from TotalEnergies. Its presence in Gabon and neighbouring Cameroon and Congo was established buying old fields from TotalEnergies and its predecessor company Elf Petroleum. It has been phenomenally successful at raising production.
Now it appears that perhaps Perenco has cut costs too far.
This fatal accident off Gabon is just one of many to plague Perenco, suggesting a pattern of health and safety failures across the company's operations. For example:
These are only the publicly known deaths reported in the international media. From the France2 reporting on the tragic death of M. Chazarenc, it is clear that at least two deaths in less than one year in one country had gone largely unnoticed.
Unfortunately, when workers die in remote locations working for private companies, the events often go unreported and unnoticed in the media, especially if the dead are local nationals and where the local regulations are lax.
The pattern at Perenco is truly alarming and we would urge the company to be more open about its accidents and the lessons learnt.
Perenco has "pioneered" the use of non IACS classification societies for its vessels, platforms, and rigs in Africa, working closely with the International Naval Surveys Bureau (INSB) of Athens, rather than the larger and better known, more established players like American Bureau of Shipping, DNV, and Bureau Veritas.
We believe that Perenco is INSB's single largest customer. Perenco managers have told sources that the move to INSB was driven by a desire to increase operational flexibility and avoid the stringent standards applied by the major class societies.
We can't comment on whether this is true, but it fits with our own observations of the company and its operations.
It is not clear who certified the Becuna platform; we would be very interested to know. Gabon has no government-mandated safety inspection regime, so class is the only independent auditor of safety there.
Gabon also has a terrible safety record as a flag state and in its domestic marine operations.
You will recall that Gabon has been a prime destination for the flagging of the Dark Fleet, tankers smuggling sanctioned crude, including many formerly Russian-owned vessels that are often without sufficient insurance (or any insurance, for that matter). Gabon's approach to safety, to seafarer protection, and to maritime standards are a disgrace.
In May 2023, the Gabon-flagged Aframax tanker Pablo exploded at anchor off Malaysia, killing three crewmembers. You probably don't recall that the flag state published a comprehensive report into the explosion and its underlying causes and has pressed charges against the mysterious owners of the Marshall Islands-registered company that owned the Dark Fleet vessel suspected of trading sanctioned crude.
You probably don't recall this… BECAUSE IT DID NOT HAPPEN.
The Gabon flag state appears to have done nothing in public to investigate the disaster or to prevent a recurrence. Indeed, in January, Lloyds List reported that Russian state-owned shipping company SovComFlot had placed another 18 oil tankers under the Gabon registry, which is owned by a private company in the UAE.
Michelle Wiese Bockmann calculated that 98 per cent of the Gabon-registered fleet was believed to be smuggling crude oil – quite an achievement for a country run by a military dictator who seized power in a bloodless coup.
And it is not just Gabon-flagged tankers that operate with extreme danger to their passengers and crew.
In March 2023, as we reported, the Ro-Pax ferry Esther Miracle sank underway between the Gabonese capital of Libreville and Port Gentil, the centre of the oil and gas business in the country. Thirty-seven people were killed or lost in the disaster.
Now, with an additional six likely dead offshore, we have to ask when the Gabonese government is going to take action to prevent its offshore facilities and vessels from blowing up, sinking, and killing people.
In February, Perenco appointed Armel Simondin to replace Benoit de la Fouchardiere as CEO of the company. We would urge M. Simondin to take the following measures:
Perenco produces over 510,000 barrels of gross production of oil and gas per day. It has the resources to make its sites safe for its staff, and its management should be held accountable for its shameful safety record.
A new CEO brings a chance to change a what appears to be failed and rotten corporate safety culture.
Perenco and Gabon together are a toxic combination. If you are working for Perenco, stand up for safety and look after yourself. The company's record shows that vigilance is needed.
The Perrodo family have made billions, but worker safety appears to be low on their list of priorities.
Further reading
More information on the Dark Fleet and the role of the Gabon Registry as a facilitator of oil smuggling and funding the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine can be read in this Atlantic Council report.
Our background story of the Perrodo family that owns Perenco is here. We wrote that the "Perrodo family history reads like the Dynasty soap opera…"
Disclose Investigate Europe has a series of reports called The Perenco Files on the various other accusations of malfeasance against the company, including claims of excessive gas flaring and pollution in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the use of shell companies to own billions in real estate and private equity assets. Disclose's summary explains the background to the group and its controversial links to a French minister.
Contacts for confidential reporting
If you have information relating to Perenco's safety record or the role of INSB in enforcing safety standards, or information on the Gabon registry and the Dark Fleet, you can reach the author via hieronymousbosch.baird@gmail.com or the editor via editor@bairdmaritime.com. All information will be treated confidentially.