Chevron fined for water pollution

US company Chevron has been fined for an offshore oil spill that caused significant water pollution.

Brazil's environmental agency has handed the firm a penalty of $28 million but it is possible that Chevron may be hit with further fines in the coming days and weeks.

George Buck, chief executive officer of Chevron, noted that the incident occurred when oil leaked into a well borehole, which saw the structure crack and oil make its way through the rock to reach the seabed.

"This is rare but one of the dangers in drilling is encountering shallow but over-pressured sections," Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of petroleum geosciences programmes with the University of Houston, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Last month, WWF Scotland called on BP to abandon plans for deep-water drilling near Shetland, after it was revealed that a worst-case scenario for a spill would see a leak of 75,000 barrels a day over a period of 140 days - a total of 10.5 million barrels of oil.

Posted by Lauren Steadman