Wednesday, September 18th, 2013 — Chevron Corp, the No. 2 U.S. oil company, signed an accord on Friday that could lead to the end of civil lawsuits seeking $17.5 billion in damages for a November 2011 oil spill, the company’s lawyer in Brazil, Oscar Couto, said. The agreement includes about 300 million reais ($130 million) in compensatory actions for the 3,600 barrel spill, in the ocean northeast of Rio de Janeiro. Of the total, 95 million reais are for social and environmental projects unrelated to Chevron’s own operations, the company said.