Tag: Chevron

Chevron says it followed industry drilling norms A Brazilian prosecutor plans to allege this week that Chevron and Transocean should not have drilled a deep-water well that leaked in November, legal documents showed, giving a glimpse into expected criminal charges that could slow the rush to develop Brazil's vast offshore oil wealth.The accident cracked geological structures in the reservoir and oil will continue leaking from the field until it is emptied, the prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira told Reuters in a telephone interview on Monday.The prosecutor's comments expanded on his investigations and police reports being used to assemble criminal indictments against U.S. oil company Chevron, drill-rig operator Transocean, and 17 of their executives and employees.The documents, obtained by Reuters, provided the most detailed look yet at possible causes of the oil leak off Brazil's southern coast. They also outline why prosecutors are seeking criminal charges for what industry watchers note is a relatively small spill at a well that was approved for drilling by Brazilian regulators."We are in uncharted territory," said Cleveland Jones, a Brazilian oil geologist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. "Do we want better environmental standards? Yes. Did the environment get really hurt? No. If ...

Chevron halted production in Brazil after new oil leak found Brazilian prosecutors say they will bring criminal charges against 17 executives from the US oil company Chevron and drilling contractor Transocean after a new leak of crude.The executives have been barred from leaving the country until the investigation concludes.Chevron halted production in Brazil after the new oil leak was found on the seabed off Brazil earlier this week.The seepage is near a well where there was a major oil spill last November.A Chevron spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the latest legal moves because it had not been notified of the decision.The oil company is already facing a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit over November's spill.Federal prosecutors' spokesman Marcelo del Negri told AP news agency that prosecutors would file charges including "environmental crimes" in a federal court next week.The nationalities of the executives are reported to be five from the US, five Brazilians, three Australians, two French nationals, a Canadian and a Briton.Chevron confirmed on Thursday that there was a "small new oil seepage" and that it was working to collect the crude.In November up to 3,000 barrels of oil spilled from the well in the Frade field, which is around ...

Fresh oil leak discovered The US oil company Chevron says it has temporarily halted production operations in Brazil after a fresh oil leak was discovered.It has detected what it calls a "small new seepage" of oil on the seabed close to a well in the Frade field, where there was a major leak in 2011.The company says it has taken the step as a precaution.In November up to 3,000 barrels of oil spilled from the well, which is around 240 miles (370km) off Rio de Janeiro.New fine Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, says it is unclear how large the latest spillage might be, but that the oil seems to be coming from cracks in the ocean floor close to the well, rather than the well itself.Chevron is already facing a $100m (64m) fine for November's leak, and ANP says it will impose a new fine for failing to prevent this latest spill.Chevron has confirmed the leak in a statement, and says it is working to collect any crude oil that has made its way into the ocean.Company executives say there is no evidence the new leak was caused by drilling.The Frade field is the largest foreign run oil field in Brazil, ...

The well stopped flowing on its own A natural gas well off the coast of Nigeria stopped flowing by itself after a fire burned out at the site, the Nigerian division of Chevron announced."Chevron Nigeria Ltd. announced that the fire at the site of the Funiwa 1A natural gas well offshore Nigeria ceased burning on Friday," the company stated. "The well stopped flowing on its own."The company said no natural gas had flowed since the fire went out but monitoring was ongoing.More than 150 rig workers were pulled from the K.S. Endeavor rig off the Nigerian coast in January after the rig partially collapsed. Chevron initially said it observed a small sheen from the area, which represented about 13 barrels of liquid.The drilling of a relief well to extinguish the fire began in January. CNL said it hired local residents to monitor areas beaches for possible contamination. It added that it offered food and other supplies to communities "to recognize the help and support that they have given the company."Two rig workers were declared dead following a search-and-rescue operation.The cause of the accident remains under investigation.Source: UPI

$11 billion civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill A Brazilian prosecutor plans to file criminal charges against Chevron Corp and some of its local managers within weeks, adding the threat of prison sentences to an $11 billion civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill.The filing in federal court in Campos, Brazil, will likely include a request for criminal indictment of George Buck, chief executive of Chevron's Brazil unit, as well as other staff, three Brazilian government officials involved in the case told Reuters.Transocean Ltd, whose rig was used in the operation, and some of its employees in Brazil are also expected to be charged, according to the officials, who requested anonymity because the case has not been presented to a judge. It is up to a judge to determine whether to accept the charges and proceed with indictments.The backlash against the Chevron spill has highlighted the risks that energy companies face as they rush to get a piece of Brazil's oil bonanza. Chevron's legal troubles come as new oil rules give Brazil's government more control over the country's vast oil wealth. The regulatory overhaul has also delayed investment projects and new drilling licenses.Buck ...

Two Workers Missing Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) said that an extensive search and rescue effort continues for two contractors who remain missing after yesterday's fire aboard the K.S. Endeavor, a drilling rig offshore Nigeria operated by FODE Drilling Nigeria Limited. While Chevron's highest priority remains the rescue of the missing contractors, the company continues to devote the necessary resources to resolve the rig incident in a responsible and timely manner.As previously reported, the K.S. Endeavor was drilling a natural gas exploration well for Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL). The well is located in the Funiwa Field approximately six miles (10 kilometers) offshore and in approximately 40 feet (12 meters) of water.Chevron reports that 152 workers on the rig and an associated barge were safely evacuated. They are now onshore and have been given medical examinations. Two remain hospitalized due to minor burns, while others are being held for further observation.While a full investigation is still under way, Chevron said initial indications point to the possible failure of surface equipment during drilling operations that led to a loss of well control. The well continues to burn and the rig has partially collapsed. At this time, the company cannot estimate how long the ...

Fire broke out on a drilling rig in Chevron's Funiwa oil facility Two workers were missing after fire broke out on a drilling rig in Chevron's Funiwa oil facility in southeast Nigeria on Monday, Chevron said."Search and rescue has successfully found 152 of 154 personnel. We expect all of those rescued to be onshore and checked medically. The fire is still burning. Early well control activation is ongoing," Chevron spokesman Scott Walker said.Local people reported a loud explosion on the rig early on Monday. "I heard a really loud bang and there was a fire," local village chief Young Fabby, 55, said by telephone.Walker earlier said Chevron was "still investigating the incident and ... working to fully understand what happened." He said the fire broke out on the K.S. Endeavor jack-up rig.There was some "sheen around the well that is being investigated," he said.Source: Reuters

Oil and natural gas deeper below the ocean's surface than ever before Two hundred miles off the coast of Texas, ribbons of pipe are reaching for oil and natural gas deeper below the ocean's surface than ever before.These pipes, which run nearly two miles deep, are connected to a floating platform that is so remote Shell named it Perdido, which means "lost" in Spanish. What attracted Shell to this location is a geologic formation found throughout the Gulf of Mexico that may contain enough oil to satisfy U.S. demand for two years.While Perdido is isolated, it isn't alone. Across the Gulf, energy companies are probing dozens of new deepwater fields thanks to high oil prices and technological advances that finally make it possible to tap them.The newfound oil will not do much to lower global oil prices. But together with increased production from onshore U.S. fields and slowing domestic demand for gasoline, it could help reduce U.S. oil imports by more than half over the next decade.Eighteen months ago, such a flurry of activity in the Gulf seemed unlikely. The Obama administration halted drilling and stopped issuing new permits after the explosion of a BP well killed 11 workers and ...

Chevron and Transocean said they acted appropriately and responsibly SÃO PAULO-Brazil's Federal Police are asking a federal prosecutor to indict as many as 17 Chevron Corp. and Transocean Ltd. employees, including Chevron's Brazil director, George Buck, for their alleged roles in an oil spill last month off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, a senior Brazilian police official said in a televised interview late Wednesday."The companies acted in a frivolous, irresponsible manner in the incident," Federal Police investigator Fábio Scliar said on the Brazilian television station TV Globo. Mr. Scliar couldn't be reached for comment.In separate statements, Chevron and Transocean, the company contracted by Chevron to drill the well, confirmed that the Federal Police were recommending indictments following an investigation into possible environmental and other crimes stemming from the spill.In their statements, both Chevron and Transocean said they acted appropriately and responsibly.To be sure, some analysts say Brazilian authorities may resist going through with an indictment, some experts said. That is because it would set a precedent for criminal charges in the case of even relatively small spills-a precedent that could come back to haunt the government if state-run oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, has a spill.All ...

Spill of nearly 3,000 barrels of oil Brazilian federal prosecutors said Wednesday they are seeking $10.6 billion in damages from U.S.-based Chevron Corp. because of environmental harm caused by an offshore oil leak.The prosecutors are also asking a judge to order Chevron and Transocean Ltd., the drilling contractor for the well where the leak occurred in November, to halt all activities in Brazilian territory for an indefinite period."During an investigation, the attorney general's office found that Chevron and Transocean were not capable of controlling the damage caused by the spill of nearly 3,000 barrels of oil, proof of a lack of environmental planning and management by the companies," the statement read.Chevron, in an emailed statement, said that it had received no notice of the action by the federal prosecutors and that Brazilian oil regulators had not contacted it about the issue."From the outset, Chevron responded responsibly to the incident at its Frade Field and has dealt transparently with all Brazilian authorities," the company said.Most of Brazil's oil drilling is conducted offshore, and that is where Chevron's work is concentrated. The company does own lubricants manufacturing plants in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It wasn't clear if these operations would ...