An oil leak in Brazil has sparked concerns in New Zealand about the potential of such a disaster as Petrobras prepares to explore for oil off the East Cape.

The Brazilian oil company is also the part-owner of the oil field northeast of Rio de Janeiro, which has sprung the leak.

Protestors marched the streets of Tauranga in October, showing their opposition to deep sea oil drilling in the Ruakumara Basin.

Greenpeace New Zealand senior climate campaigner Simon Boxer says there are currently no deep sea wells in New Zealand waters, but a number of companies, including Petrobras, have plans to drill here for deep sea oil.

Anadarko –a part owner of the Deepwater Horizon, the rig which exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last year, spilling 650,000 tonnes of oil – is planning to start drilling off the North Island's west coast, and Canterbury, before the end of next year.

'This accident off Brazil yet again shows that deep sea oil is far too risky.

'Deep sea oil drilling employs unproven technologies, to exploit the last drops of oil, in the world's most pristine areas.”
He says New Zealand is far too precious to endanger in this way.

'The climate is too important to life on this planet to destroy by going after the last of the fossil fuels.”

So far 90 tonnes of crude oil has leaked into the sea and it's not known how the leak, which is beneath a network of deep sea wells, will be plugged.

The field's operator, Chevron, initially claimed that the spill was a natural event.

In a news release, the company has since admitted it most likely caused the spill, by over pressurising the oil reserve.

This is thought to have fractured rock above the reserve, letting oil escape.