Brazilian energy giant Petrobras on Friday asked a Rio do Janeiro court to lift a ban on operations of rig owner Transocean in connection with a major ocean oil spill last year. The company filed a civil action as injured third party to press for the immediate lifting of a July 31 injunction ordering US oil firm Chevron and Switzerland-based Transocean to stop drilling and shipping activities in Brazil within 30 days.
Brazil's largest oil workers union filed a lawsuit against US oil company Chevron and drilling firm Transocean that seeks to cancel their rights to operate in the country as the result of an offshore oil spill last November.
Oil started washing ashore on the US Gulf Coast from a leaking offshore well, the US Coast Guard reported. Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day are thought to be spilling into the water after last week's explosion on a BP-operated rig (NYSE:BP), which then sank.
Efforts were under way Sunday to contain and stop oil leaking from a BP well after a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard said. Officials found oil was leaking Saturday from the well.
An oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that caught fire after an explosion on Tuesday night has now sunk, the US Coast Guard has said. A search is continuing for 11 missing workers after the blast at the Deepwater Horizon rig. The other workers on the rig, off Louisiana, were evacuated to the US.