Amateur racing driver, supercar collector, and entrepreneur Francois Perrodo made the news last year when he admitted to accidentally putting diesel in his McLaren F1 GTR. However this time, the multi-billionaire made headlines not because of his supercars, but due to an oil leak in a UK harbor. The leak came from the Wytch Farm oil field, a subsidiary of Perenco which is owned by Perrodo’s family.
The “major incident” occurred last Sunday in Poole, UK, known as the largest natural harbor in Europe. According to the BBC, around 200 barrels of reservoir fluid (a mixture of water and oil) leaked from one of Wytch Farm’s pipelines, raising concerns about the environmental impact. Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) estimates that a maximum of six tonnes of crude oil was leaked into the sea, with teams already working on the cleanup.
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Perenco said there was no risk of further leakage, with a spokesperson saying: “Francois Perrodo and all of the leadership team are of course fully aware of events, which are being effectively managed at a subsidiary level. Perenco is working, with the relevant experts and authorities, to clean up the spill, which was limited and quickly contained. Perenco is fully aware of its responsibilities and will work to leave no trace of this incident”. The family-owned oil drilling company was founded by Hubert Perrodo, Francois’ father, who died in a hiking accident. It currently operates more than 3,000 sites in 16 countries around the world.
As reported by The Guardian, Francois Perrodo’s car collection includes 46 vehicles including 19 Ferraris and the mistreated road-registered McLaren F1 GTR. Predictably, the leak was mentioned by a few commenters on his car-focused Instagram profile which has 45.5k followers. Despite the backslash, Perrodo reportedly kept posting racing cars on his Instagram stories on Monday morning, the day after the spill.
Photo Independent/Youtube screenshot