Beth Timmins is a business reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Repsol is being sued by the consumer protection agency over a huge oil spill that blackened beaches in January.
More than 10,000 barrels of oil were spilled into the Pacific Ocean.
The lawsuit seeks over $3 billion for environmental damage and over $1 billion for local damages.
Repsol denied that they were responsible.
The company initially said the spill was caused by a volcanic eruption. It blamed the oil tanker.
The $4.5 billion lawsuit by Indecopi against Repsol was admitted by a judge on Tuesday.
There was an oil spill on January 15th. The tanker was unloading at Repsol's La Pampilla refinery.
The lawsuit is meritless and the amount is arbitrary, according to Repsol.
Repsol has been contacted by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The president described the spill as one of the biggest ecocides ever on the coast.
The disaster resulted in the loss of income for hundreds of fishermen and hotel workers.
The local fisherman were unable to go out to sea because of the spill.
According to Indecopi, the ecological damage is affecting fishermen.
The head of Indecopi said that they are looking to get compensation for people who live near the contaminated coast.
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Repsol's involvement in the incident. Executives from the firm were not allowed to leave the country for 18 months.
Repsol said the clean-up would cost $150 million.
Repsol had a net income of 2.499 billion last year, 16 times the clean-up cost.
Stuart Haszeldine said that communities and countries have a right to expect safe transport of oil and gas.
There is no established market for a clean beach or a seabird colony, and large and financially well-resourced oil companies can use cash, lobbyists and legal teams to delay and defocus the blame game.
This will be a contest on the strength of Peru's legal system to enforce environmental justice on a multinational.
He said that the final settlement may be influenced by Repsol's valuation of its own reputation and future permission to operate around the world.
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