RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil has criticized US oil giant Chevron for ignoring the risk of oil spills in the Frade Field, off Brazil's southeastern coast.

Some 2,400 barrels of oil spilled into the Brazilian sea, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state in November.

A report from Brazil's Federal Police said on Monday that Chevron and its partner Transocean had insisted on drilling in the field with a pressure that is much higher than the reservoir can bear, ignoring the recommendations in geologic studies.

"They put tremendous pressure in a reservoir that couldn't bear it," said federal police chief Fabio Scliar who is heading investigation on the case.

Last week, Chevron reported the occurrence of another oil spill, three kilometers away from the first spill's site, insisting that the two incidents were unrelated.

However, Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama disagreed with the company, saying that the two incidents are indeed connected.

Brazil's federal prosecutor's office has decided to charge 17 Chevron and Transocean executives for the oil spill. To stop the executives from trying to leave the country, their passports have been seized.