Brazil shuts down Chevron's offshore drilling after "negligent" deep water spill

Now this is how you handle an oil company that cuts corners.

Brazil suspends Chevron's drilling activities

The Brazilian government has suspended Chevron's drilling rights in the country until it clarifies the causes of an offshore oil spill, those responsible for the disaster are identified and safety conditions are restored in the area.

The decision was announced as the chief executive of Chevron's Brazilian unit was testifying before the Brazilian Congress on Wednesday, where he publicly apologised for the spill that leaked about 2,400 barrels of oil into the ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

On November 8, a helicopter from Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras spotted a crude oil slick on the ocean and the leakage was traced by an underwater robot to a well operated by Chevron 1,200 metres deep near the Frade field, 370km northeast of the Rio de Janeiro coast.

Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said it decided to halt Chevron's drilling rights after determining that there was evidence that the company had been "negligent" in its study of data needed to drill and in contingency planning for abandoning the well in the event of accident.

First the head of the company grovels before Congress, then they shut down Chevron's whole operation less than three weeks after the first oil was spotted.

I don't think I have to dwell on how different the Government of Brazil's approach to Chevron is from the U.S. Government's handling of the B.P. during the Deep Water Horizon catastrophy.