Chevron’s Brazil Spill Legal Claims Rise to $22 Billion
Chevron Corp. and Transocean Ltd. are being sued for $22 billion in environmental damages in Brazil, double initial claims, after a federal prosecutor filed a second lawsuit over oil spills off the nation’s coast, according to Bloomberg. Chevron committed “a series of errors” which led to the March spill at Frade, the second incident at the offshore oil project, the federal prosecutors’ office said yesterday. Prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira is also seeking to halt operations at Frade and block San Ramon, California- based Chevron from transferring profits from Brazil. “The oil spill at the Frade field hasn’t been contained,” Oliveira said.
Two Brazil Oil Leaks May Not Be Related: Chevron
Rio de Janeiro - An oil seep near Chevron Corp.’s offshore Frade project in Brazil this month did not come from the field where a spill occurred in November, company spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said in an e-mailed response to questions. “There is no evidence” that the seep is related to the November leak, Glaubitz said. Tests show that the oil from the second seep is not from the Frade reservoir, Glaubitz said.
Chevron’s Brazil CEO Banned From Leaving After Oil Spill
The chief executive officers of Chevron Corp.’s and Transocean Ltd.’s Brazilian units are among 17 executives at the two companies banned from leaving the country, pending an investigation into an offshore oil spill. Chevron’s George Buck and Transocean’s Michael Legrand were on the list of managers federal prosecutors asked Judge Vlamir Costa Magalhaes to ban from leaving Brazil, according to a copy of the request sent today by Marcelo Del Negri, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. The judge issued the ban March 16. The November 7 leak of 3,000 barrels of oil at Chevron’s $3.6 billion Frade field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro occurred at a time when Brazil is increasing scrutiny of deepwater drilling, following the 2010 Macondo spill in the U.S.
