Chevron: Brazil Oil Leak 'Reduced to Infrequent Droplets'

Chevron Brazil announced Thursday the company is actively cementing an appraisal well responsible for causing an oil leak off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The leak was caused by drilling pressure which cracked the ocean floor, and caused several seeps through from which oil escaped.

Since the drilling operation was suspended and the well plugged, the flow of oil has been reduced to infrequent droplets, according to a company statement.

Drilling operations near the Frade oil field offshore of Brazil are still suspended, and have been since the leak was first reported to Chevron officials last week. The company said there has never been any flow of oil from the well itself.

The company estimates cleanup crews working on the surface reduced the amount of oil in the water to less than 65 barrels. That is down from 650 barrels first mentioned last weekend.

The company was drilling a well several hundred miles offshore from Rio de Janeiro. Oil on the surface of the water tipped officials off last week, and a subsequent investigation confirmed the well was responsible for the seeps on the ocean floor.