RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Officials in Brazil have accused oil giant Chevron of failing to cooperate with the government on an offshore oil spill.
"They've been very resistant about providing information, and they were hesitant about allowing me to land on the platform," said Fabio Scliar, the top ranking environmental authority in Brazil's justice department, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Another environmental official, Carlos Minc, said the spill in the Frade offshore oil field,was "much bigger" than Chevron had divulged.
Chevron originally said up to 650 barrels of oil had been released from the well that is in 3,800 feet of water.
That would make it far smaller than the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico where an estimated 5 million barrels of oil were released.
"We are working with all appropriate agencies to resolve the issue. We have provided all available resources to manage the situation, said Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz on Friday.
Glaubitz said the sheen of oil was estimated at 18 barrels and that 18 ships were working to contain the problem.
Chevron says it was informed of the spill on Nov. 8 by its drilling partner, Brazil's oil company Petrobras.
Glaubitz said on Friday the oil spill was "largely resolved."
The spill, however, has wider implications. Brazil is gearing up its oil industry with the aim of becoming the fourth largest producer in the world behind Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States, sometime in the next decade.
That means this spill could be considered an early test case for how Brazil regulates the industry in future years.
