Queries / interviews: Cathy Allen 07789541031; Ralph Doe ⁨+33632912187⁩; XR UK press team 07756136396

BREAKING PHOTOS | PERMANENT ARCHIVE

In the wake of recent citizen’s arrests of Perenco’s CFO and Group Counsel [1], Extinction Rebellion expressed outrage outside the company’s London HQ after a comprehensive and damning report [2] revealed their pivotal role in six workers being burnt to death on a Perenco oil platform in Gabon last year.

Perenco, it is revealed, buried the dead in unmarked graves until public outcry. In a shocking disclosure of racist culture at Perenco the report reveals diametrically opposite treatment of the five African victims compared to the one European. The family of the Frenchman killed have received around US$ 10m, whilst the families of the African workers have had no compensation at all. [3]

Entitled Death Behind Closed Doors the report, released a few days ago, depicts Perenco as a company which knowingly sent these workers unwillingly into extreme danger with credible allegations from whistle-blowers that they also covered this up, pressured witnesses, obstructed auditors and bribed officials in order to evade justice. 

Extinction Rebellion supporters surrounded the Perenco HQ – located on Hanover Square, in the elite Mayfair area of London – with a dramatic performance by Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Oil Slicks’, crime scene tape and banners reading “RACIST RECKLESS KILLER PERENCO HQ”, “EYES ON PERENCO”, and placards satirising Perenco’s logo as the Grim Reaper. The gathered crowd called for Perenco to be held to account shouting: “Perenco stop hiding, We know you’re deciding, We know you’re presiding, Over these deaths!”

Luke Allen, Senior Campaigner with the Environmental Investigation Agency said: “The Perenco Group’s drive to produce oil at all costs seemingly played a central role in this tragedy. No company is above the law, and the group’s decision makers should be called to account for their actions in Gabon and elsewhere.”

Perenco is one of the world’s largest private oil and gas companies, operating in a highly lucrative corner of the fossil fuel industry, “Specialising in aging, depleting oil fields, Perenco’s profit relies on extracting any remaining drops of oil…. And Perenco Group’s desperation for profit played a key role in causing the accident.’’ [4] 

The report also highlights how Perenco’s subsidiary structure (where responsibility is supposedly held by over 100 “autonomous” subsidiaries in 14 countries around the world), is nothing but smoke and mirrors shielding Perenco itself from prosecution for pollution, human rights abuses and labour violations. 

In fact nearly all high-level operational, financial and human resource decisions are made by London and Paris HQs, and all the managers of subsidiaries are from France except for Jonathan White from the UK who heads up British operations. “Multiple Perenco Group employees described this model as ‘neo-colonial’ because it appears that very few Central Africans are invited to take part in discussions, or to make decisions about the subsidiaries’ priorities and the impact on their lives.” [5]

The report details the role of the London HQ where crucial decision makers – CEO, CFO, Chief Geologist and Head of Business Development – are located. [6] Theoretically domiciled in a shell company in the Bahamas, that office “apparently exists to minimize the company’s legal and tax exposure in the UK, France, and elsewhere.” [7]

Perenco is facing a legal case in France brought by Sherpa and Friends of the Earth France seeking to hold the company liable for environmental damage in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As Juliette Renaud, senior campaigner at Friends of the Earth France, stated: “For too long, the multinational corporation Perenco has used its opacity to escape from its own liability.” [8] 

A non-exhaustive list of 13 major and extensive ‘incidents’ by Perenco in 10 countries across the world is listed in the report. [9]

Lucy Porter a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion: “It is disgusting to learn that a London company has so far been operating with impunity despite accusations of crimes in every country it operates in, including funding paramilitary groups in Colombia, massive tax evasion in DRC, displacing indigenous communities in Guatemala as well as widespread dangerous pollution of air, water and land in many countries. The tragic death of the six workers in Gabon is the latest and most horrific case from this company that must be finally held accountable and made to pay for all its crimes.”

Ralph Doe, ecologist and member of Extinction Rebellion Poole said: “Activists from Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have marched many times at Perenco’s Wytch Farm failing production site, since the disastrous oil leak into Poole Harbour in March 2023. Perenco’s management and UK authorities have consistently refused to reply to simple questions on the spill. Refusal to engage responsibly is echoed throughout the Perenco set up.”

Notes for editors

[1] Citizen’s Arrest Network arrest Perenco’s Gilles d’Argouges Group CFO and Jonathan Parr Group General Counsel: https://www.citizensarrestnetwork.org/
[2] Environmental Investigation Agency report ‘Behind Closed Doors’, May 21, 2025: https://eia.org/report/death-behind-closed-doors/
[3] Environmental Investigation Agency Press Release May 21, 2025: https://eia.org/press-releases/death-behind-closed-doors-perenco/
[4] Video ‘Death Behind Closed Doors’ : https://vimeo.com/1086372175
[5] Page 35 ‘Behind Closed Doors’ : https://eia.org/report/death-behind-closed-doors/
[6] Page 33 ‘Behind Closed Doors’ : https://eia.org/report/death-behind-closed-doors/
[7] Bahamian Facade, box 7 ‘Death Behind Closed Doors’: https://eia.org/report/death-behind-closed-doors/
[8] French oil company Perenco sued over environmental damage in Democratic Republic of Congo : https://www.asso-sherpa.org/perenco-environmental-damage-drc
[9] Annex 1, page 40, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ https://eia.org/report/death-behind-closed-doors/

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Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate and ecological crisis which is upon us, including the sixth mass species extinction, global pollution, and increasingly rapid climate change. If urgent and radical action isn’t taken, we’re heading towards 4˚C warming, leading to societal collapse and mass loss of life. The younger generation, racially marginalised communities and the Global South are on the frontline. No one will escape the devastating impacts.