President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recalled, this Tuesday (4), that a new environmental authorization will be necessary for Petrobras to begin extracting oil and gas in the Foz do Amazonas Basin. Lula said he would have been a “false and liar leader” if he had waited for the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), in Belém (PA), to then announce the license for Petrobras. 
The Brazilian head of state is in the capital of Pará to preside over the COP30 leaders’ summit, next Thursday (6) and Friday (7)and gave a press conference to journalists from the foreign press, who are in Pará for the conference.
The sedimentary basin is located on the Equatorial Margin, which extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá and is considered “the new pre-salt”, due to its oil potential. The proximity of the Amazon’s coastal ecosystems, however, worries environmentalists and local communities.
Last month, Petrobras obtained a license from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to begin exploratory research operations in the regionwhich has an estimated duration of five months. 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.
“If I were a false and lying leader, I would wait until the COP to announce it,” said Lula, in an interview with international correspondents.
The president reinforced that, if oil and gas are found in economically viable conditions in the Foz do Amazonas Basin region (block FZA-M-059), a new licensing process will begin. Petrobras has other 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.
“We have authorization to carry out the test. If we find the oil we think we have, we will have to start all over again to give permission,” said Lula.
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.
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In recent statements, President Lula argues that it is not possible to give up fossil fuels “overnight” and that resources obtained from oil will be used to finance the energy transition.
Negotiations between delegates from signatory countries to the United Nations climate treaty will take place after the leaders’ summit, from 10 to 21 November. On the agenda are topics such as climate financing, energy transition, adaptation and biodiversity preservation.
*With information from Reuters news agency
