SAO PAULO ? The Brazilian Federal Police has begun investigating an oil spill in an offshore field operated by oil giant Chevron Corp., which an environmental group alleges is far bigger than the company has stated.
Fabio Scliar, head of the Federal Police department's environmental affairs division, told government news service Agencia Brasil that his division began to look into the causes and extent of the spill Thursday.
A request emailed by The Associated Press emailed to the Federal Police asking for an interview with Scliar went unanswered.
Chevron has said that the volume of the oil spill was between 400 and 650 barrels of oil.
SkyTruth, a nonprofit group that uses satellite imagery to detect environmental problems, said on its website that satellite images show the oil spill extended 918 square miles (2,379 square kilometers) and that the spill rate as of Tuesday was up to at least 3,738 barrels per day.
In an emailed statement, Chevron spokesman Scott Walker said only that the company "continues to fully inform and cooperate with Brazilian government agencies as part of the company's response efforts."
Brazil's oil regulator, the National Petroleum Agency, said in a statement that Chevron plugged the well with a cement cover.
"If Chevron is not doing what it should (to contain the spill) it will be severely punished," Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said Thursday.
Brazil's environmental protection agency, Ibama, said in a statement that Chevron has not omitted any information and has implemented all the emergency procedures required.
The well is part of the Chevron-operated Frade project, located 3,800 feet (1,200 meters) underwater, 230 miles (370 kilometers) off the northeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
The agency said that ships in the area were working to disperse the oil and move it away from the Brazilian shore and that their efforts were being aided by prevailing weather conditions.
On Tuesday, Chevron said its efforts to contain the spill had been successful and that there had been a "significant decrease" in the amount of oil coming from seep lines near the Frade well.
In the past few years, Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras and others have made massive offshore oil discoveries thought to hold at least 50 billion barrels of oil, making them the biggest finds in the Western hemisphere in 30 years.
There has been virtually no debate in Brazil about the dangers drilling offshore poses, unlike in the U.S., where debate about the dangers of drilling were pitched even before last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Politicians are in a fierce battle trying to decide how to divide up the future oil royalties among states, with essentially no talk about the potentially damaging effects the drilling may spark.
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