Contrary to promises to preserve the environment, the first project announced by Lula will be a highly polluting gas pipeline in Argentina, financed with Brazilian money through the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
According to Argentina’s Energy Secretary, Flavia Royón, the project is expected to cost about R$4 billion (US$770 million).
The pipeline will connect the Vaca Muerta region in western Argentina to the province of Santa Fe.
Known as the “treasure of Vaca Muerta”, the geological formation rich in shale gas is considered the world’s second-largest unconventional gas reserve.
Shale is a veneer-looking rock that can harbor gas and oil between the cracks.
The problem is that exploiting this type of material uses a process that is considered to be highly damaging to the environment.
Drilling vertically into the ground to a certain depth is necessary to get at the gas or oil.
The drill then goes horizontally to fracture the ground while injecting water and chemicals to release gas and oil trapped between the rocks.
Because it is so harmful, shale gas exploration has been banned in Brazil and has already been the subject of court decisions in Bahia and Paraná.
In 2019, the Paraná government even created a law prohibiting the use of the technique in the state.
In 2013, during the Dilma government, the topic was the subject of intense debate in the Environment Commission of the House of Representatives.
At the time, the Green Party warned about the risks of environmental contamination and harm to human health.
The then Minister of the Environment, Marcelo Moreira, was also concerned about the newly developed technology.
Shale gas produces natural gas that serves as fuel for industries and vehicles.
Banned in European countries, the United States considers shale gas exploration strategic.
With information from BSM