President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated, on Wednesday (12), that the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) needs to authorize Petrobras to pierce wells in search of oil in the Foz do Amazonas basin ( FZA-M-59), on the equatorial margin, on the coast of Amapá. The region has great potential to contain oil reservoirs, however, exploration is questioned by environmentalists, due to possible environmental damage.
“It’s not that I’m going to have explore, I want it to be explored. Now, before exploring, we have to research, we have to see if it has oil, the amount of oil, because you often dig a 2,000 meter -deep hole and find it imagined, ”he said in an interview with Diário FM radio , from Macapá (AP).
“Maybe next week or this week there is a meeting with the Civil House, with Ibama and we need to authorize that Petrobras does the research. This is what we want. If we will explore later, it is another discussion. What is not possible to be in this lenga-lenga, Ibama is a government body looking like a body against the government, ”added the president.
The equatorial margin covers five basins in the high seas, including the Foz do Amazonas basin, on the coast of Amapá, whose License for Maritime Prospecting was denied in May 2023 and generated public debates on the exploration of the region. At the time, Ibama claimed that the decision was made “according to the set of Technical InconsistenciesFor a safe operation in a new exploratory area, as deficiency in the fauna protection plan.
For Lula, Petrobras is a responsible company with the largest experience of exploration of deep water oil. “We will fulfill all the necessary rites so that it does not cause any damage in nature, but we cannot know that there is a wealth under us and will not explore, because we will have money to build the famous and dreamed of this wealth Energy transition, ”he added.
THE Strategic plan From Petrobras for the period 2024-2028 foresees investments of US $ 3.1 billion and the perforation of 16 wells in the entire length of the equatorial margin, ranging from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte, however, is only authorized by Ibama to Drill two of them in the Potiguar basin on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte. Of the total concessions, currently 11 operate in the production phase, five with small production and six in the return process, which occurs when there are no significant discoveries.
In October last year, the agency linked to the Ministry of the Environment again requested Petrobras new clarifications Regarding the licensing process in the mouth of Amazonas, after the latest detail of the fauna protection plan presented by the state oil company last August.
At this stage, Ibama acknowledged advances in the delivery of documentation, regarding the reduction of response time in the service of the fauna in case of oil leakage in the region, but considered necessary more details about “full adaptation of the plan to the manual of good Fauna management practices affected by oil, such as the presence of veterinarians in vessels and quantitative helicopters for emergency care ”.
Historic
Since the 1980s, the entire Brazilian equatorial margin has undergone research to discover new reserves, with the aim of increasing the national production of fossil energy sources.
According to Petrobras, to the full length of Rio Grande do Norte, 700 wells have been drilled in shallow waters, most of them before the existence of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). But many of these exploratory wells were abandoned by mechanical accidents.
In 2015, the discovery of large oil volumes in the Guyana Basin Suriname aroused investors’ interest in advancing in sedimental basin investigations analogous to those who yielded 11 billion barrels of oil to the reserve of neighboring Guyana.
