Attorney General of the Union may issue a definitive opinion on Petrobras research – News of Brazil
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The Attorney General of the Union (AGU) should release in the next few days an opinion on the start of exploratory research to verify the oil potential on the country’s Equatorial margin. The new argument, which must be handed over to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, will be based on an interministerial ordinance from 2012, published before the auction that offered this block and which allows the environmental licensing to be carried out without the Area Environmental Assessment Sedimentary (AAAS).
In addition, there is an opinion on the subject given by the Federal Supreme Court, in 2021, which determined that the evaluation carried out by Ibama is not mandatory in this type of procedure.
The expectation is that the new argument to be presented will put an end to the imbroglio created between the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Petrobras. Shortly after Ibama denied the continuity of research on the potential of oil on the high seas in the region of the Foz Basin of the Amazon River, the Ministry of Mines and Energy sent a letter to the AGU requesting an alternative so that Petrobras could analyze the quality of the oil. present in block FZA-M-59, located in deep waters, around 2,800 meters of water depth.
The ongoing analysis is based on the provisions of article 4, item X, of Complementary Law 73/93, which establishes the competence of the AGU “establish the interpretation of the Constitution, laws, treaties and other normative acts, to be uniformly followed by the bodies and entities of the Federal Administration”.
In May, Ibama rejected Petrobras’ request to carry out offshore drilling activities, but President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Ministry of Mines and Energy have been pressing for it to be granted.
Last Thursday, August 3, during an interview with radio stations in the North of the country, the President of the Republic said that the population of the North region “you can keep dreaming” with exploration. He defended the drilling of a well in the Foz do Amazonas Basin to confirm the existence of oil and gas reserves in the Equatorial Margin region.
“First, we have to explore, do the research. If the research finds that we have what we think we have, then we will have a second discussion: how to explore without causing any harm to any Amazonian species”said Lula.
It is estimated that the Equatorial Margin will receive investments of approximately R$ 11 billion by 2027 if environmental licenses are issued. Petrobras intends to start drilling in deep waters at Foz do Amazonas along the Amapá coast. For president Lula, Ibama’s decision is not final. “They pointed out technical flaws that Petrobras has the right to correct”he stated.
Lula confirmed that the decision on drilling at Foz do Amazonas will be taken by the Brazilian State and recalled that neighboring countries, such as Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, are exploring for oil in that region. “We are in an internal discussion process and soon we will have a decision on what we should do”said the President of the Republic.
In Belém, to participate in the events that preceded the Amazon Summit, the Minister of the Environment and Sustainability, Marina Silva, said that licensing by Ibama is a strictly technical matter. She pointed out that more than two thousand environmental licenses have already been given to Petrobras and none of them were granted on an ideological basis — negative ones, therefore, are also not influenced by ideology. Marina promised that Ibama will continue to lead the entire process “exemption”.
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