Environmental Considerations for the Construction of the Dragon-Cigma Gasduct in the Paria Peninsula National Park

Consideraciones Ambientales para la Construcción del Gasoducto Dragón-Cigma en el Parque Nacional Península de Paria

Abstract

Within the plans to take advantage of Venezuela's gas potential, PDVSA proposed the Mariscal Sucre Project, to develop the Offshore reserves north of Paria. During Early Production, the non-associated gas exploitation project in the Dragon field was advanced, and its transportation to the mainland through a 36” gas pipeline between said field and the Gran Mariscal Ayacucho Industrial Complex (CIGMA), in Güiria, Sucre state. According to the results of the route analysis, based on constructive, environmental and economic criteria, it was decided to cross a small portion of dry land, called Istmo de Los Obispos, within the Paria Peninsula National Park. This led to the analysis of construction techniques for the passage of this land section with the least possible impact on the biota and habitats present in this sector. Environmental measures were designed for the prevention and mitigation of potential environmental impacts identified at the Isthmus crossing, whose southern beach is a reported sea turtle nesting area on the Paria peninsula. Sea turtles are an endangered species, and studies report that they spend the first 25 years of their life in the sea, and return to lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born. In this sense, the project engineering was directed to carry out the construction of this section between November and February, in order to respect the nesting period, and to conserve the excavated sandy material to restore the site to similar conditions of granulometry and compaction. Thanks to the alliance between the Consulting team, the Project Promoter and the Institutions (MINEC and INPARQUES), the Authorization to Affect Natural Resources (AARN) was obtained and the environmental dimension of sustainability was incorporated as part of the project design. .