The Minister of Productive Development, Matías Kulfas, assured this Sunday that the national government is going to “insist” on the development of hydrocarbon exploration projects offshore because not only does it not “generate any harm” to the city of Mar del Plata, but because the activity for each direct job provides another five indirect ones.
The Federal Justice of Mar del Plata ordered on Friday the suspension of the oil exploration project 300 kilometers from the coast of Buenos Aires by making room for a precautionary measure by the Mayor of General Pueyrredón (JxC), Guillermo Montenegro and environmental organizations.
The same day, The national government announced that it will appeal the judicial measure through the analysis of the Ministry of the Environment, the Secretary of Energy and the Attorney General of the Nation.
“Argentina has had offshore production for decades, and there has been no problem,” Kulfas said. in statements to CNN Radio, highlighting that “for the first time the Ministry of the Environment participates, took action on the matter, increased the environmental requirements as a safeguard for this activity”.
But in addition, he stressed that it is “An activity that generates many jobs. For every direct job in an oil well, there are 5 indirect ones, in different activities, technology, transportation, and Argentina needs to increase its jobs.”
“We are going to insist,” he continued, “because there is no inconvenience, no harm, and I believe that there is a disinformation campaign in some sectors, that is why we want to inform well that this activity is not going to cause any harm to Mar del Plata. On the contrary, it will generate many more benefits for all the economic activity that it will mobilize indirectly.”
Kulfas rejected the legal argument to order the suspension of offshore exploration operations by pointing out that “There is a claim that the community of Mar del Plata has to participate in the definition, and the truth is that there was a public hearing, a hearing where there were a lot, hundreds of people from all over the country.”
“They claim that they have not had an instance of participation and the reality is that they did, all sectors did. There was a hearing that lasted two days, if I’m not mistaken, because of the number of people who participated and spoke,” he asserted.
