Chevron: Brazil oil seep different from old spill

November sea floor leak — which spilled at least 2 400 barrels and triggered an US$11 billion civil lawsuit and pending criminal charges — is “much heavier” and has different chemical properties from crude in the earlier spill, Chevron told Reuters.
“There is no evidence that the two sets of seeps are related,” Oil samples collected from the second seep and analysed by the IPEX lab in Brazil and reviewed by Chevron indicate that the oil is not from the Frade production reservoir” , Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said in an email to Reuters.
Chevron said oil from the recent seep contained no drilling “mud”, suggesting it is not a residual spill or a new complication of the November spill.
Only around a barrel of heavier crude has been found flowing out of the new seep. As a precaution, Chevron has shut output at the 61 500-barrels-per day Frade field in Brazil, and will complete a new geological study of the Frade prospect with its partners there,   including Brazil’s state-controlled Petrobras.
Chevron has spent more than US$2 billion developing the field. The Chevron statements come as executives from the company, and its drilling contractor Transocean are expected to face criminal charges on Wednesday for alleged environmental crimes related to the November spill.
That spill came after a pressure kick forced Chevron to shut in a new production well at Frade, which resulted in oil, gas and mud breaching its well beneath the seabed and eventually flowing out into the Atlantic Ocean. The spilled oil did not reach shore. — Reuters.