STORY
HIGHLIGHTS
- Among those asked to surrender their passports is an American
- "We will defend the company," a Chevron spokesman says
- The spill occurred in November off the coast of Rio de Janeiro
- A thin sheen is spotted in the area
(CNN) -- A
federal court in Brazil has issued an order barring 17 executives from U.S. oil
giant Chevron and Transocean Ltd. from leaving the country while it mulls
criminal charges against them for an oil spill last year.
Kurt
Glaubitz, a Chevron spokeman, said the company has not received a formal
notification of the order.
"Any
legal decision will be abided by the company and its employees," he said.
"We will defend the company and its employees."
The oil
spill occurred in deep water off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in November.
The next
month, Brazilian federal prosecutors filed a suit against Chevron and oil rig
operator Transocean for 20 billion reais, about $11 billion.
The civil
suit also seeks to halt the operations in Brazil of the oil giant and its rig
operator, according to federal prosecutors in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
"Chevron
and Transocean were not able to control the damages caused by the spilling of
almost 3,000 barrels of oil, which shows a lack of environmental planning and
management by the companies," the prosecutors office said in a statement
at the time.
The damages
would be by far the largest sought so far by Brazilian officials for the
November leak. However, experts on the Brazilian legal system are saying the
suit is not likely to be won.
The spill
was tiny when compared to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 when some 4
million barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico off the U.S. coast.
But it drew
attention to environmental risks as Brazil develops its so-called "subsalt
region" in extreme depths off the coast of Rio.
It also
heightened tensions with Chevron and other foreign companies operating in the
country's oil sector.
On Friday,
the Brazilian navy and Chevron officials spotted a thin sheen of oil in the
same area where the spill occurred. The sheen extended about 1 kilometers (0.6
mile), Chevron said.
As a
result, Chevron suspended production at the Frade offshore field -- about
60,000 barrels a day -- and was using special containment devices to capture
the seep.
The company
was studying the new seep and trying to determine the geological features in
the area that would have caused it, Glaubitz said.
"Once
we determine that we will re-start production," he said.
Brazil aims
to be the world's largest fifth largest oil producer by 2020.
"By
some estimates, the oil you recently discovered off the shores of Brazil could
amount to twice the reserves we have in the United States," U.S. President
Barack Obama said during a trip to Brasilia in March 2011.
Saying that
the United States wants to help Brazil with technology and support to develop
such oil reserves, Obama added America "could not be happier with the
potential for a new, stable source of energy."
"And
when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best
customers," he said.
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