Oil firms face Brazil spill charges
A Brazilian federal prosecutor filed charges against 17 Chevron and Transocean employees for an oil spill last year in Rio de Janeiro, in the latest problem for Chevron in Latin America. Prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, who has already filed an $11bn (£7bn) civil lawsuit against the companies for the spill, has added the threat of up to 31 years in prison. In a statement Chevron called the lawsuit “outrageous”. The lawsuit comes after a 3,000-barrel leak, small compared to other major spills, in the Frade field 120km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.