Pluspetrol’s violations of Indigenous rights and the environment in Peru

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Case

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Written by: Joseph Wilde-Ramsing

Published on: 3 September 2025

reading time 5 minutes

Case overview: a brief summary

On 11 March 2020, after decades of seeking justice, four indigenous federations from the Peruvian Amazon, supported by SOMO, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Peru, and Peru Equidad, filed a complaint with the Dutch NCP against Pluspetrol, a multinational oil company. Originally an Argentinian company, but operating through an Amsterdam “letterbox”, Pluspetrol has been accused of serious environmental pollution and violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

The complaint highlights the company’s harmful practices in Lot 1AB (renamed Lot 192 in 2015), where it operated for 15 years, causing severe socio-environmental damage to the Achuar, Kichwa, Kukama, and Quechua communities. Although Pluspetrol ceased operations in 2015, it has so far avoided addressing the resulting damage.

Complainants

The complainants are federations of indigenous communities who live in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon, and represent more than 100 indigenous communities.

• Quechua Indigenous Federation of Pastaza (FEDIQUEP). 
• Federation of Native Communities of the Upper Corrientes Basin (FECONACOR). 
• Organisation of Amazonian Kichwa Indigenous Peoples of the Peru-Ecuador Border (OPIKAFPE). 
• Cocama Association for Development and Conservation of San Pablo de Tipishca (ACODECOSPAT). 

Co-submitters of the complaint: SOMO, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Peru, and Peru Equidad.

The complaint

With their complaint, the indigenous leaders asked the Dutch NCP to review Pluspetrol’s policies and conduct, and to mediate between the communities and the company so that Pluspetrol would take responsibility for the damage caused and clean up the pollution in the rainforest. 

In addition, the complainants raised concerns about Pluspetrol’s opaque financial structure. Although the company is headquartered in the Netherlands, it has no real economic activity there. Instead, its Dutch office facilitates fiscal constructions that allow Pluspetrol to avoid taxation. This was the first NCP complaint to directly address the issue of a letterbox company and its tax avoidance practices. 

The substantiation of the allegations mentioned here can be found in the official complaint(opens in new window) submitted to the NCP. 

Case context

Environmental destruction and health impacts

Pluspetrol’s activities in the Peruvian Amazon have been marked by widespread environmental pollution and disregard for the health and rights of Indigenous peoples. The company was fined numerous times by Peruvian authorities for violating environmental laws. Over many years, Pluspetrol discharged huge amounts of toxic wastewater directly into rivers and failed to maintain outdated installations and pipelines, leading to frequent oil spills. As a result, toxic substances such as cadmium, barium, and lead have contaminated the soil, rivers, and groundwater across the region. 

This contamination has had devastating consequences for the Amazon ecosystem and the Indigenous peoples who depend on it. fish and game stocks have been poisoned, biodiversity has declined, and drinking water has become unsafe. Research by the Peruvian Ministry of Health in 2005 and 2006 showed that heavy metals, particularly cadmium and lead, in blood and urine samples of Indigenous residents far exceeded international health standards. The studies also reported unusually high rates of miscarriages, acute diarrhea, persistent skin conditions, and other serious health problems rarely seen in Indigenous populations. In addition, malaria outbreaks have become frequent in areas where the disease was not traditionally endemic, further undermining community health and food security. 

Fiscal construction via the Netherlands

Alongside these environmental and human rights violations in Peru, Pluspetrol also acts in violation of the OECD Guidelines on taxation and transparency. Though originally founded in Argentina, the company is officially headquartered in the Netherlands through a letterbox company in Amsterdam. According to the complainants, this Dutch entity serves as a hub in a complex and opaque international corporate structure, with numerous branches in tax havens. This construction enables Pluspetrol to avoid paying taxes on the profits it made from oil extraction in Peru. Through this structure, profits are channelled from the Netherlands via Luxembourg to the Bahamas, allowing Pluspetrol to benefit from Dutch facilitation of tax avoidance while externalising the costs of pollution and human rights harms onto Indigenous communities in the Amazon.

Allegations

• Environmental pollution of soil and water due to inadequate wastewater disposal and poor pipeline maintenance.
• Failure to conduct adequate human rights and environmental due diligence, resulting in adverse health impacts on indigenous peoples.
• Lack of transparency and disclosure regarding taxation and environmental impact.
• Agreements with communities containing disadvantageous elements undermining meaningful stakeholder engagement.
• Inadequate remediation of contaminated sites and refusal to cooperate fully with NCP mediation efforts.

Legal rationale

The complaint is grounded in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2000 and 2011 versions), which require enterprises to:

• Protect the environment proactively and apply best practices to prevent pollution.
• Respect human rights consistent with the host country’s international obligations.
• Carry out risk-based due diligence and provide or cooperate in remediation for adverse impacts.
• Engage transparently with stakeholders and disclose relevant information.
• The NCP found Pluspetrol in breach of these standards, emphasising that compliance extends beyond domestic law and includes good faith cooperation with grievance mechanisms.

Findings of the Dutch NCP

In September 2025, the Dutch NCP issued its Final Statement, concluding that Pluspetrol had breached the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct.

The NCP found that Pluspetrol failed to engage meaningfully with Indigenous peoples, noting that the company did not foster a relationship of mutual trust and concluded agreements with disadvantageous terms for communities. It also determined that Pluspetrol knowingly used outdated equipment, failed to apply good practice standards, and could have foreseen that dumping wastewater and neglecting pipelines would cause serious environmental pollution. By failing to prevent and remedy this damage, Pluspetrol also failed to respect the right to health of local populations who depend on clean water, land, and biodiversity for their livelihoods.

The NCP further found that Pluspetrol did not provide adequate transparency on its operations and taxation practices, with its Dutch entities lacking any real economic activity. The Final Statement recommends that Pluspetrol demonstrate compliance with the spirit of Dutch tax law and engage in a meaningful way with local communities to address the environmental contamination it caused.

Voices of the community

“Pluspetrol left without cleaning up anything. Instead of remediating, they contaminated our land even more. The OECD’s recognition that Pluspetrol is responsible gives us hope that justice will finally be done.” Robinson Sandi, president of OPIKAFPE.

“Many of us are still contaminated with heavy metals in our blood. I will keep fighting until Pluspetrol takes responsibility and our territory is remediated.” Aurelio Piñola, president of FECONACOR.

What’s next?

Following the finalisation and publication of the NCP statement, attention will turn to monitoring Pluspetrol’s implementation of recommendations.

The NCP’s findings carry important consequences. Under Dutch government policy, companies found in breach of the OECD Guidelines are excluded from trade promotion, export credit, and public procurement contracts. The case also puts pressure on the Dutch government to close loopholes that allow harmful companies to hide behind letterbox structures and to strengthen the enforcement of OECD standards.

For the Indigenous federations, the ruling is an important validation of their decades-long struggle. The NCP’s strong condemnation provides an official, public record of Pluspetrol’s harmful conduct, strengthening advocacy, legal, and media efforts in the pursuit of justice and remedy.

The case also has broader implications for the energy transition. Pluspetrol’s disengagement from the Amazon highlights the responsibility of oil companies to disengage responsibly: ensuring that harms caused during operations are addressed, environmental damage is cleaned up, and affected communities are compensated.

SOMO’s role

SOMO provided corporate research that uncovered Pluspetrol’s links to the Netherlands and exposed the company’s tax avoidance practices. We also explored legal and semi-legal avenues for pursuing justice in the Netherlands, which ultimately led to the OECD National Contact Point (NCP) route, in consultation with the indigenous federations. Finally, SOMO supported the complainants in drafting and filing the case with the NCP. OECD Watch(opens in new window) , hosted at SOMO, also supported the complainants with guidance on filing the complaint.

Media coverage

• Oil company Pluspetrol appears to be siphoning off profits through its Amsterdam headquarters(opens in new window) . Published by Trouw on 10 March 2020.
• Leaking pipelines bring Peruvian Quechua leader to the Netherlands: “People are dying from strange diseases.”(opens in new window) Published by Trouw on 11 March 2020.
• Peruvian leader appeals to watchdog over ‘terrible harm’ caused by oil firm(opens in new window) . Published by The Guardian on 12 March 2020.
• Oil company Pluspetrol refuses Dutch mediation in a dispute over environmental pollution and tax avoidance. “The company is like a mosquito(opens in new window) ” Published by Toruw on 20 April 2021.
  

Posted in category:

Case

Written by:

Written by: Joseph Wilde-Ramsing

Published on: 3 September 2025