Petrobras admits oil leak off the coast of southern Brazil
Transpetro, a subsidiary of Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras, said Thursday it had detected an oil leak off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul state but did not know how much had spilled.
“An oil leak was detected at a single bay in the Osorio Terminal during offloading from a vessel,” it said in a brief statement.
Petrobras's transportation unit said it was still not possible to estimate how much oil had leaked but said personnel and equipment were deployed to contain and remove the spill off the coast of the southern state.
In November, another oil spill was detected in a well operated by US energy company Chevron near the Frade field, 370 kilometres northeast of the Rio de Janeiro coast. The spill was eventually contained and Chevron was subject to several environmental fines.
The case was a wake-up call for Brazil as it prepares to tap huge underwater oil fields, which the national oil agency ANP says holds reserves that could surpass 100 billion barrels of high-quality recoverable crude.
These fields are off Brazil's southeast Atlantic coast beneath kilometres of ocean, bedrock, and hot salt-beds.
In 2010, Petrobras was the world's third biggest oil producer in terms of market value at 228 billion dollars. By late last month it had fallen to 5th place, with its value down to 156 billion, according to the daily newspaper O Globo.
In related news Reuters reports that 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 dollars civil lawsuit.
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.
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.
Buck and Chevron acted in a “careless and irresponsible way,” an official who investigated the 2,400-barrel spill told Reuters.
The official said it is unlikely that people facing charges will be arrested in the near term or be barred from leaving Brazil. As the case advances and more evidence is collected, however, such measures could be applied, the official added.
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I wouldn't like to bet on it.
So here we go, the comparisons will be made along the way, especially by Chevron's lawyers.
Naturally I agree with fining infractors-it's just a shame the 'Brazilian prosecutor' doesn't go after corrupt politicians with the same voracity!
Oil spills happen all over the world. In 2010 alone there were over 50 oil spills throughout the Brazilian coast. The problem isn't the spill, but how Chevron handled it - Chevron abandoned the well, first denied there was an oil spill, and only took action 10 days after the happening. And its actions were much more timid than it advertised - it publicly said it had sent 16 vessels to fight the leak, though goverment officials who visited the area claimed there were only 4. Chevron is also guilty of furnishing edited photographs to the government in order to understate the significance of the leak, and that was the reason the government felt in the need to send officials to supervise the area in the first place. Moreover, and perhaps because of Chevron's dishonesty and lazy handling of the situation, the leak covers an immense area. According to the O Globo jorunal, the Chevron spill alone leaked over half of the oil of all the ~50 spills that occured in 2010. So don't you think there's any equivalence between Chevron's oil spill and random oil spills. For starters, as the article itself noticed it, it was Petrobras who first called attention to the spill, whilst Chevron, in comparison, was trying to divert attention from it own spill (once even said it was a phenomenon of nature). I was the one who shouted you down the other time, and you very much deserved it. I don't know whether there should be fines against Petrobras - but nothing in comparison to what has been imposed on Chevron, since Chevron's incompetent and dishonest handling of its spill was sui generis. I'm sorry it hurts your starts and stripes colored heart.
So that makes it all ok then?
Hypocrite. Come and rant at me instead of Rogbahia who was only making a sensible comment that Chevron's lawyers WILL make comparisons between the two leaks.
So you believe the Petrobras (aka the government) claims in full. Unlike me, you have never worked as an engineer in a sea oil well/ land processing unit system and know nothing of the practical difficulties that arise on a daily basis.
I take it that ”O Globo jorunal (sic)” are oil experts then? No? I didn't think so, just the usual take it off the net and run with it journos' (short for journalists).
You really can be led around by the nose when you get apoplectic can't you?
BTW - what are 'starts and stripes'? Would this be the 'Stars and Stripes', a reference to the American flag?
“you have never worked as an engineer in a sea oil well/ land processing unit system and know nothing of the practical difficulties that arise on a daily basis.”
I'll pretend I believe you.
”I take it that ”O Globo jorunal (sic)” are oil experts then? No? I didn't think so, just the usual take it off the net and run with it journos' (short for journalists).”
You haven't read the article, so don't accuse me of anything, buffoon. The article was written to point out that spills are common, not to make any criticism againt Chevron. (O Globo is not the sort of newspaper that criticizes big corporations, btw.) And if you really think the procedure is so risky, why your enthusiasm in ranting against Petrobrás?
You're such a genius, ChrisR.
In any event, here's an article of interest. I doubt you can read it, but it says the government's animal protections agency will fine Transpetro. I hope that will silence the ignoramuses commenting on here and their “poor Chevron” jeremiads.
g1.globo.com/rs/rio-grande-do-sul/noticia/2012/01/transpetro-sera-multada-por-vazamento-de-oleo-diz-ibama.html
Hit a nerve, did I?
Shell Q'Ebo Terminal, NW of Delta 1, Nigeria. Engineer with Seaweld Engineering.
I do not read crap like O Globo when discussing petro-chemical technical matters: there are far better sources.
It is just the hypocritical stance of you Argies when it suits you. A spill is a spill. I suspect (but do not condone) that Chevron did what they did (alledgedly) because they knew Petrobras would wind the government up and hey! They were right.
Keep throwing the insults: it shows you are out of control and have lost the argument.
“because they knew Petrobras would wind the government up and hey!”
I'm in the dark as to what this is supposed to mean. Petrobrás was a partner of Chevron's in operating that well. As such, even though Chevron was clearly the spiller, government agencies are required by law to investigate Petrobrás and also a third operator of the well, a Japanese consortium. Petrobrás has gained nothing from Chevron's faux pas, and it can still be subjected to fines just on account of the partnership. Furthermore, it was Petrobrás who warned Chevron of the oil spill the Americans pretended they didn't know existed, and it was Petrobrás who lent them the equipment so they could investigate the leak. Chevron is where it is nowadays because of its own incompetence and deceptions. But please, don't let that interfere with your misinformed accusations against Petrobrás and pathetic expressions of pity towards the poor dear Chevron.
“Keep throwing the insults: it shows you are out of control and have lost the argument.”
I've lost nothing. All of my arguments are still there, and you haven't questioned them. I'll repeat them for you. Environmental damage is minimal compared to November's spill. And unlike according to IBAMA, the animal protection agency, Petrobrás - very unlike Chevron! - took all the required measures to deal with the leak, including, but not limited to, warning the government of its existence. Ergo, the two companies should, and are going to, be treated differently.
'Petrobrás was a partner of Chevron's in operating that well. As such, even though Chevron was clearly the spiller,' I have no idea what the legal situation with 'Partner' is in Brasil, but in International Law' it is jointly and severally. This means Petrobras is just as guilty as Chevron. I am pleased to see their response: that is what they should have done as a partner in the operation. Still haven't been fined millions though have they? Or for the other spill?
In real terms I have answered the argument, you don't need pages and pages to do this. Petrobras were partners in one well with Chevron, there was a spill, they were sole operators on anothe installation, there was a splill. It seems to the outsider like me that Brasil fine outsiders. I have yet to see ANY evidence they fine Petrobras. OK?
My pleasure! :o)
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