Brazil prosecutor slaps Chevron, Transocean with $11bn suit for oil
A Brazilian prosecutor has filed a second 20 billion real ($10.9 billion) lawsuit against oil giant Chevron and Swiss-based offshore driller Transocean for an oil leak northeast of Rio de Janeiro. This is the second case against the companies in less than five months.
The two companies now face charges of R$ 40 billion ($22billion) in Brazil.
The new suit is related to an oil leak discovered March 4 in Chevron's offshore Frade field 370 km northeast of Rio de Janeiro, the Federal Public Prosecutor's office said in an email, Reuters said.
Brazilian Prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira had earlier slapped an $11 billion suit against the two companies for the spillage of 2,400 to 3,000 barrels of oil offshore of Rio de Janeiro state in November.
He is now seeking an additional $11 billion for a much smaller leak that took place in March.
"The oil spill at the Frade field hasn't been contained," Oliveira said in a statement to Bloomberg. "The damages to the environment and to Brazil's natural resources are incalculable at this point."
Oliveira said Chevron and Transocean's activities may have damaged the Frade reservoir, making it impossible to produce from the field and also denying Brazil its right to royalties on a public resource.
Chevron has protested, saying "The filing of the second lawsuit is another in a series of outrageous actions brought by the same district attorney who previously filed both a criminal and civil case, all of which are without merit."
"The 20-billion-real figure in both civil lawsuits is arbitrary and has no legal and factual basis," Chevron said in a statement.
Source: Central America News.Net
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