Petrobras obtained a license from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to explore oil in the Equatorial Margin. The region, located in the north of the country, is considered a new pre-salt layer due to its oil potential.
Ibama made the announcement early this Monday afternoon (20).
According to Petrobras, the exploratory probe is located in the region of block FZA-M-059 and drilling is expected to begin “immediately”. The well is located in deep waters off Amapá, 175 kilometers from the coast and 500 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon River.
Drilling in this initial phase is estimated to last five months, according to the company. During this period, the company seeks to obtain more geological information and assess whether there is oil and gas in the area on an economic scale. “There is no oil production at this stage,” Petrobras stressed in the statement.
Authorization was obtained approximately two months after the last phase of the licensing process, the so-called pre-operational assessment (APO), which consists of a emergency situation simulation and reaction planwith special attention to fauna.
>> Follow the channel Brazil Agency on WhatsApp
Security promise
Petrobras reported that it met all the requirements established by Ibama – a body linked to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change – fully complying with the environmental licensing process.
The company’s president, Magda Chambriard, classified obtaining the license as “an achievement for Brazilian society”.
“It reveals the commitment of national institutions to dialogue and the feasibility of projects that can represent the country’s development,” said Chambriard in the statement.
She recalled that it took five years of dialogue with municipal, state and federal governments and environmental agencies until the license. Chambriard considers that the state-owned company was able to prove “the robustness of the entire environmental protection structure”.
“We will operate in the Equatorial Margin with safety, responsibility and technical quality. We hope to obtain excellent results in this research and prove the existence of oil in the Brazilian portion of this new global energy frontier”, he added.
Ibama
By means of a note, Ibama reported that the license was issued after a “rigorous environmental licensing process”. This process included the preparation of an Environmental Impact Study (EIA/RIMA), three public hearings and 65 sectoral technical meetings in more than 20 municipalities in Pará and Amapá. Inspections were also carried out on all emergency response structures and the offshore drilling unit, in addition to carrying out the APO, which involved more than 400 people.
Also according to the environmental agency, after the 2023 denial, an “intense discussion” was initiated with Petrobras, which allowed for a “significant” substantial improvement of the presented project, especially in relation to the emergency response structure.
Among the advances, Ibama cites the construction and operationalization of another wildlife service centerin the municipality of Oiapoque (AP), which adds to the one already existing in Belém.
Ibama stated that the additional requirements were fundamental for the environmental viability of the project, considering the exceptional environmental characteristics of the Foz do Amazonas basin region.
The institute anticipated that, during the drilling activity, a new simulated emergency response exercise will be carried out, focusing on fauna care strategies.
New source of oil
THE Equatorial Margin has gained notoriety in recent years, as it is treated as a new and promising area for oil and gas exploration. Recent oil discoveries off the coasts of Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname, neighboring countries to the north of the country, have shown the exploration potential of the region, located close to the Equator. In Brazil, the area extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá.
The search for an exploration license began in 2013, when the British multinational oil company BP won the bid for the area. Due to a strategic decision, the company transferred the concession to Petrobras in 2021.
Petrobras has wells on the new exploratory frontier, but, until then, it only had authorization from Ibama to drill the two on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte.
In May 2023, Ibama even denied the license for the area called the Foz do Amazonas Basin, which made Petrobras ask for reconsideration.
In addition to the company, sectors of the government, including the Ministry of Mines and Energy and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself, defended the release of the license. In Congress, president of the senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), was one of the main organizers to rush and authorize the license.
According to Petrobras, waiting for the exploration license cost the company R$4 million per day.
A study by the Energy Research Company (EPE) estimates that the total potential recoverable volume of the Foz do Amazonas Basin could reach 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent. For comparison purposes, data from the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) show that Brazil has 66 billion barrels of proven, probable and possible reserves.
Reviews
The exploration is criticized by environmentalists, concerned about possible impacts on the environment. There is also a perception, on their part, that this is a contradiction to the energy transition, which means replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, which emit fewer greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming.
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. The state-owned company emphasizes that, despite the name Foz do Amazonas, the place is 540 kilometers from the mouth of the river itself.
* Article updated at 2:48 pm, with the addition of Ibama’s position
