Chevron dealing with oil spill in Brazil

U.S. supermajor Chevron said its efforts to respond to an oil sheen linked to a deepwater appraisal well off the Brazilian coast were successful. Chevron said an oil sheen drifting away from the Brazilian coast was estimated to represent as much as 650 barrels of oil. The company's Brazilian division said the amount of oil leaking from lines on the bottom of the ocean, however, "has decreased significantly." Chevron started plugging and abandonment activities associated with an appraisal well in the Frade field during the weekend. The project is located about 230 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in roughly 3,800 feet of water. The company said the sheen was spotted about 75 miles offshore but was moving southeast away from the coast. "Chevron Brazil will continue to monitor the situation during the plugging and abandonment process in the coming days, which will culminate in the final cementing of the well," the company said in a statement. Chevron said the $3 billion project was expected to bring an estimated 90,000 barrels of crude oil per day to market this year. The Frade field holds at least 200 million barrels of recoverable oil.