GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Offshore drilling contractor Transocean said it would challenge a court order in Brazil that orders the company to end operations there within 30 days.
In response to an offshore incident, a federal court in Rio de Janeiro served the company with an injunction calling for an end to operations in Brazil within 30 calendar days.
The Brazilian government filed charges against Chevron and Transocean for a March seep and for the spill of more than 2,500 barrels of oil at the Frade field in November.
Transocean, in a statement, said it was "vigorously pursuing the overturn or suspension of the preliminary injunction." Absent any relief, however, the company said it would be forced to comply and suspend its work in Brazil.
The company said it has 10 rigs under contract for work in the country and nine of those are deployed offshore Brazil.
The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum announced mid-September it would fine Chevron about $17 million for the Frade spill.
Reserves of an estimated 50 billion barrels of oil are thought to be off the Brazilian coast.
