CHEVRON

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) oil executives face criminal charges in Brazil after company drilling caused an oil spill in the South Atlantic.

Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. oil company said on Wednesday that oil from a new seabed seep at its Brazilian offshore field is chemically different to crude from a November spill, and that the two leaks are unrelated.

Chevron officials announced Wednesday the company's most recent oil spill off the coast of Brazil is not linked to a previous oil leak in November.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE:RDS) signed Wednesday the first-ever production sharing contract with China's state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, as the world's second largest economy seeks to develop its untapped reserves, similar to those that gave rise to the U.S. natural gas boom, with the help of foreign technology.

Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. oil company, said Wednesday that oil from the latest leak in a Brazilian offshore field was not chemically related to oil from a November spill.

A Brazilian prosecutor plans to allege this week that Chevron and Transocean should not have drilled a deep-water well that leaked in November, legal documents showed, giving a glimpse into expected criminal charges that could slow the rush to develop Brazil's vast offshore oil wealth.

Chevron, before a recent leak off Brazil, was blamed for spilling about 3,000 barrels of oil last November. The detention of the foreign executives raises questions about Brazil's willingness to pursue offshore drilling.

A Brazilian court on Saturday barred 17 executives from Chevron and Transocean from leaving Brazil, pending criminal charges related to a high-profile oil spill last November.

The Brazilian navy said it spotted a thin stain of oil extending for about half a mile in the same offshore field operated by U.S. oil company Chevron where a high-profile spill occurred last November.

Just as Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S.-based oil company, hoped to restart its offshore drilling operations in Brazilian waters, the company experienced a setback.

Chevron on Thursday continued its attempts at not paying billions in environmental fines for pollution the company says it didn't commit.

Chevron Corp Chief Executive John Watson sees demand for oil being destroyed in the United States as a result of higher gasoline prices and an underperforming U.S. economy.

Chevron, the second largest oil and natural gas company in the U.S. is hoping to resume offshore drilling in Brazil as soon as possible.

Chevron Corp reiterated plans to grow production by about a fifth by 2017, helped by massive liquefied natural gas projects in Australia that are set to start up beginning in 2014.

The U.S.-based oil giant is questioning the judicial conduct of Nicholas Zambano after the Ecuadorean jurist was dismissed for improperly freeing an alleged drug trafficker.

Vladimir Putin declared victory in Sunday's election, but it remains to be seen how much power he'll wield over his country's vast stockpiles of oil and natural gas when he returns to the presidency in May.

Chevron executives met this week with Russian government representatives about possible oil exploration by the U.S. company in Russia's Arctic.

Apple saw its stock market value close above $500 billion on Wednesday to become the most valuable company in the world at present.

A federal judge in Brazil declined to grant an injunction suspending the Brazilian operations of oil major Chevron and offshore oil-rig contractor Transocean over a November oil spill northeast of Rio de Janeiro, providing temporary relief to the two companies.

An international legal panel based in the Netherlands has decided that it has jurisdiction over a pollution case in Ecuador brought by aboriginals against California-based Chevron. The panel could void damages awarded in the case.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index closed Friday at its highest level since June 2008 as a result of the rise of the U.S. stocks subsequent to increasing confidence on revival of economic situation with the approval of the Greece bailout package.