Brazil allows Chevron to resume oil drilling after spill

US oil firm Chevron has been given permission to restart production at an offshore field in Brazil following a spill two years ago. The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said it […]

US oil firm Chevron has been given permission to restart production at an offshore field in Brazil following a spill two years ago.

The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said it has approved Chevron’s plans to start exploration in four wells of the Frade oil field – located around 230 miles northwest of Rio – for 12 months.

In November 2011, around 3,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the Atlantic waters and then in March last year, after another oil spill was detected, the oil giant decided to voluntarily halt operations.The work halt is believed to have cut Chevron’s daily production by 29,000 barrels of oil and natural gas. Before the accident, the field had been producing 60,000 barrels a day.

The Frade field lies at a water depth of 1,128m and is estimated to contain between 200 million to 300 million barrels of recoverable oil.

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