Over the past few months oil has been washing up on thousands of kilometers of Brazil's coastline with seemingly no origin. This week, Brazilian authorities have stated that they might have identified a ship they believe to be responsible for the crude oil that has been covering beaches in north-east Brazil since early September.
Due to crude oil having distinct characteristics from its origins, Brazilian environment ministry said the oil is not from Brazil but testing shows that it's "very likely from Venezuela." On Friday, investigators said that the Greek-flagged ship carrying Venezuelan crude was the source of the spill.
According to Reuters, the ship has been identified as the Bouboulina, who is owned by Greece's Delta Tankers Ltd. There have yet to be official statements from the company. Reports said that the tank appears to have spilled the crude about 420 miles (700 kilometers) off the South American coast in July. The oil tanker was headed for Singapore with oil from Venezuela's San Jose terminal.
"There is strong evidence that the company, the captain and the vessel's crew failed to communicate with authorities about the oil spill/release of the crude oil in the Atlantic Ocean," Brazilian prosecutors issued in a statement.
Though the country has not planed to bring charges for the environmental damage to the source country, Brazil is upset that no one has yet to claim the spill and alert authorities before it reached shores. If Brazil was better prepare for the crude, they may have been able to mitigate the amount of wildlife and coastal damage the sludge caused.
Brazil so far has collected more than 2,000 tonnes of sludge from its beaches, the crude being detrimental to the environment. Many within the country had begun to protest the government's handling of the clean up.
Speaking at an event in Rio de Janeiro, Roberto Castello Branco, chief executive of state-run oil giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) said on Tuesday that Petrobras continues to work with the navy to tackle the spill and is analyzing the oil collected from beaches as well as trying to mitigate the damage.
Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque said that the spill should not impact the upcoming Transfer of Rights oil auctions set to take place in November, an event that is expected to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment.
According to Brazilian authorities, the bidders who win exploration and production rights in Brazil next week will be obliged to pay the government a combined signing bonus of the reais equivalent of $26 billion.