The president of Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, reported this Tuesday (14) that she hoped that the license from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) for exploration in the Foz do Amazonas Basin had already been granted. According to the executive, there will be a new meeting between the teams from the state-owned company and the environmental agency next Thursday (16).
“The concern now is October 21st, which is the deadline for the rig contract [para perfuração]. If we don’t start drilling by the 21st, this rig could be removed from the location and if it is removed and replaced by another rig in the future, what will happen is that the licensing process starts all over again”, said Magda, after the meeting of the Firjan Oil and Gas Business Council, in Rio de Janeiro.
The executive said she expects drilling to begin by the 21st. “As far as I was informed, what existed was a demand for a meeting for clarification and I hope that at this meeting, on the 16th, everything will be resolved to start drilling”, he added.
Magda stated that the state-owned company is facing difficulties in finding a new location for the same rig.
“This probe is rare in the world. It is one of the few state-of-the-art probes that exist in the world. We have two, three of these probes around the world. It is a probe that is in high demand.”
According to the executive, this probe costs Petrobras R$4.2 million per day. “I’m optimistic that it will work, otherwise this probe would have left there a long time ago”, added Magda.
