Compared to the blowout of the BP Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico last year, Chevron’s oil spill off the Brazilian coast this month was small. But the accident—the country’s second significant offshore oil spill—has had powerful repercussions here, thanks in large part to environmental worries about Brazil’s push to develop ever-deeper undersea oil reserves. Chevron’s performance in the crisis has contributed to the backlash, too. Brazil’s oil regulator, the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), reports Chevron promised to plug and cap the bore hole within 20 hours, but—after getting the agency’s authorization on Nov. 16—took five days to secure the equipment needed to finish the job. The company, ANP says, neglected to disclose that the equipment wasn’t in... [Log in to read more]