Chevron gets permission to drill at Frade field again

Chevron has reportedly received permission to resume drilling and water injection operations at the Frade field in the Campos basin, offshore Brazil.

According to Brazilian sources, California-based Chevron, has been given the approval by Brazil’s oil regulator, the ANP.

The operations were banned after two oil leaks occurred at the offshore oil field in 2011 and 2012.  Approximately 2,400 barrels of oil were spilled into the ocean. There were no reports of the oil spill reaching the shoreline.

To remind, Chevron was given a green light to resume production from the Frade field in April 2013, but without drilling and water injection it has been unable to reach the output levels it had at the time before the incidents.

The Frade field is Chevron’s first oil field development project in Brazil. Its peak annual production capacity is estimated to be 85,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day. The Frade field is located in the Campos Basin in a water depth of 3,500 feet, approximately 75 miles offshore the state of Rio de Janeiro.