Brazil’s president opens door to Petrobras exploration near Amazon despite environmental concerns

Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said at a press conference that the state-run oil company Petrobras might still explore hydrocarbons near the Amazon River’s mouth, despite an environmental license being denied for this purpose.

In mid-May, the country’s leading environmental authority denied Petrobras the required permission to explore crude oil deposits in the equatorial margin, a marine basin off the Amazon’s mouth in the Atlantic Ocean, considered a promising hydrocarbon reserve.

The Brazilian Institute of the Environment (Ibama) cited “concerning inconsistencies of high socio-environmental vulnerability” for refusing the license for the new exploration frontier.

Lula stated that the Ibama study was not definitive and pointed out technical flaws Petrobras has the right to correct.

He added that a decision would be made once more information becomes available.

The equatorial margin in Brazil is a deep-water zone where neighboring countries have discovered reserves of up to 13,000 million barrels of crude oil.

Petrobras estimates that exploration in the area could yield 14,000 million barrels of oil.

According to Ibama, the Amazon’s mouth is considered a region of “extreme socio-environmental sensitivity,” hosting environmental reserves, indigenous territories, mangroves, coral reefs, and diverse marine life, including endangered species like the gray dolphin and the manatee.

With information from EFE

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error