The Single Federation of Oilshops (FUP) criticized on Monday (28) the delay of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to decide on the exploitation of oil in the so-called equatorial margin. 
Organ of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), Ibama reconsiders a request from Petrobras to explore oil in the region, regarded as a new pre-salt, because of the potential reservoir believed in the region.
In a press release, FUP states that there is no technical justification on the part of Ibama to postpone a meeting with Petrobras on August 12 on the planning of pre-operational evaluation (APO) on the equatorial margin. APO is the last stage of the environmental licensing process and simulates an oil leakage emergency situation.
“Why is Ibama’s delay?” Asks FUP General Coordinator Deyvid Bacelar. For him, Ibama “is slowing the licensing process and imposing additional costs on the country of more than $ 4 million a day with drilling probe rent”.
Bacelar states that the equipment has been standing on the coast of Pará for more than 20 days, waiting for Ibama to perform the preventive simulated.
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For the FUP leader, the meeting could take place later this week. “It would be enough for Ibama to mark the APO,” said Bacelar, who recognizes the importance of Ibama’s endorsement. “Ibama is an important organ, with a serious and competent technical staff.”
Sought by Brazil agencyIbama explained that Petrobras suggested the anticipation of the meeting in eight days, but the institute reiterated the date of August 12, “since there are already numerous preparatory activities ongoing to hold the APO.”
Ibama also reported that it is still committed to contributing to the efficient progress of the environmental licensing process, always marked by the necessary technical and procedural rigor, especially for a region with the environmental characteristics of the Foz do Amazonas basin.
>> Learn how the equatorial margin and oil of the region were formed
Petrobras
The equatorial margin has gained notoriety in recent years because it is treated as a new and promising boundary of oil and gas exploration. Recent oil discoveries on the back of Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname showed the region’s exploratory potential, located near the Ecuador line.
In Brazil, the area extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá. Petrobras has wells on the new exploratory border, but is only authorized by Ibama to drill two on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte.
Exploration is criticized by environmentalists, concerned with possible impacts on the environment. There is also the perception of experts that this is a contradiction to the energy transition, which values fewer fossil fuels and more renewable energy, which emit fewer greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming.
>> Experts warn of the risk of new oil fronts in the country
The search for oil exploration license in the FZA-M-59 block began in 2013, when the British multinational oil company bid the bidding of the area. By strategic decision, the company passed the concession to Petrobras in 2021.
In May 2023, Ibama denied the license to other areas, such as the Foz do Amazonas Basin, known as the FZ-AM-59 block. Petrobras asked Ibama a reconsideration and expects a decision.
Petrobras insists that oil production from the equatorial margin is a strategic decision so that the country does not have to import oil in the next decade. In an interview in October 2024, Petrobras’s Director of Exploration and Production (E&P), Sylvia Anjos, criticized the wait, which increased the company’s costs.
The state -owned company has stated that it will follow safety standards to avoid environmental accidents and emphasizes that, despite the name Foz do Amazonas, the place is 540 kilometers from the mouth of the river itself.
In April, Petrobras reported that it completed one of the last requirements of Ibama, the Installation of an animal treatment center in Oiapoquein Amapá, in case of oil spill. One Similar structure works in Belém.
Although there is still no environmental license in June, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the regulatory body of the activity, auctioned new exploratory blocks at the mouth of the Amazonas.
