Chevron’s Frade FPSO to Restart Production as Brazilian Court Dismisses Injunction

Image courtesy Chevron

(Dow Jones) Chevron Corp. (CVX) is working with Brazilian regulators to restart production at its Frade offshore field, after a court dismissed an injunction that barred the oil company and contractor Transocean Ltd (RIG) from operating in the country.

“Chevron is pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss the injunction,”Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said in an e-mail. He added that the company had voluntarily suspended production at Frade, the site of a deepwater oil leak, in March, and it is “working with regulatory agencies for a safe restart” according to a plan submitted in August.

Transocean said in a statement that “another positive ruling has been made in favor of Transocean, which further supports our successful legal efforts to prove Transocean’s crew did nothing wrong in the Frade incident.”

The company said it would continue to pursue “a complete and favorable” resolution to all litigation in Brazil.

The ban was enacted by a Brazilian court in a legal battle following a drilling accident at the Chevron-operated Frade field last November, when an estimated 3,700 barrels of crude oil seeped from cracks in the seabed. The injunction was opposed not only by Chevron and Transocean, but also by Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), which leases rigs from Transocean, the world’s largest deepwater rig contractor.

– By Angel Gonzalez, Jeff Fick contributed to this article. (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company

Updated: December 11, 2012 (Originally published December 1, 2012)

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