The Brazilian government has banned Chevron from off-shore drilling practices after investigating the company’s oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
The spill occurred at a Transocean drilling site, the same contractor that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for BP in 2010 and government officials quickly decided that the company’s track record spoke for itself after 3,000 barrels of oil filled the waters around the Frade project in the Campos basis.
Just 230 miles north-east of Rio the leak occurred when an unexpected amount of pressure built up around the drill site, causing a fracture.
Before the site was shut down Chevron was fined $28 million while millions more in fines based on local environment damage could still be imposed. Government officials believe up to $15-$20 million in environmental damages may be in order.
The leak at the site has since been plugged and the incident has caused a political firestorm in the region where lawmakers have been quarreling over if and how to expose the countries ‘pre-salt’ oil reserves which are suspected of carrying up to 50 billion barrels of oil.
In the meantime while Chevron and Transocean remain under the watchful eye of the Rio de Janeiro government both company’s say they will continue to cooperate in every way possible and pay any fines levied against their operated based on environmental findings.
Here’s a video report of the spill with footage from the oil spill drilling site:
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Do you think Transocean given their track record over the last 12 months should be more closely monitored by the company’s they contract business with and by the local governments in the regions where they operate?
