Brazil Navy investigates new oil spill off coast

May 17, 2012

(Reuters) - An oil spill was discovered off Brazil's coast near the country's Espirito Santo state, Brazil's Navy said on Thursday, the latest in a series of spills that have raised questions about the safety of a massive expansion of the country's oil production capacity.

The Navy said it has sent a team to investigate and has no immediate estimate of the spill's size.

Oil workers returning home after work offshore said there was an oil stain about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long on the ocean near the P-57 oil platform operated by Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, the Folha de S. Paulo daily newspaper reported.

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