Chevron stops operations in Brazil after fresh oil leak

The US oil company Chevron said it would temporarily suspend its oil production in Brazil's south-eastern coast after a new oil spill.

The company said the new leak was discovered in the Frade Field of the Campos Basin area, 3 km away from the place where 3,000 barrels of oil spewed into the sea last November.

Chevron has requested Brazil's National Petroleum Agency to temporarily halt its oil production to assess the causes of the spill, and it remains unknown whether the two incidents are related.

The company reported that 5 liters of oil have reached the surface until now, and it has already started collecting the leaked oil.

The leak was first spotted on March 4, but the company only found the source on March 13.

Chevron detected what it calls a "small new seepage" of oil on the seabed close to a well in the Frade field, where there was a major leak in 2011.

The company says it has taken the step as a precaution.

In November up to 3,000 barrels of oil spilled from the well, which is around 240 miles (370km) off Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, says it is unclear how large the latest spillage might be, but that the oil seems to be coming from cracks in the ocean floor close to the well, rather than the well itself.

Chevron is already facing a $100m (£64m) fine for November's leak, and ANP says it will impose a new fine for failing to prevent this latest spill.

Chevron has confirmed the leak in a statement, and says it is working to collect any crude oil that has made its way into the ocean.

Company executives say there is no evidence the new leak was caused by drilling.

The Frade field is the largest foreign run oil field in Brazil, and produces around 60,000 barrels of crude oil a day.