This has been a tough month for Chevron in Brazil. On March 16, the company temporarily shut down its production operation in the country to investigate oil leakage in an offshore field—the second such incident since November. Then, on March 21, a federal prosecutor filed criminal charges against Chevron, its drilling rig operator Transocean and 17 of the companies’ executives and engineers in connection with the November seepage. The indictments are commanding the most intense media attention. The executives and engineers, including Chevron Brazil President George Buck, were accused in the indictments of doing “environmental crimes” and harming “the public patrimony.” Meanwhile Buck and three other company employees were accused of “hindering federal inspection [of the November spill], non-compliance with environmental obligations, filing... [Log in to read more]