Clash between Marina Silva and Prates puts Lula’s environmental agenda to the test

A struggle at the top of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) moves the energy sector and, in particular, the area of ​​oil exploration in Brazil. The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, have made a series of conflicting statements when it comes to exploring the so-called “new pre-salt”, on the Brazilian equatorial margin.

Presented by the Minister of Mines and Energy as a “passport to the future”, the exploration of oil and natural gas on the equatorial margin, which extends from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte, is a promise of development for the North and Northeast. The initiative is part of the Potencializa E&P program – announced by the folder, but still without a set date for the official launch -, which aims to transform Brazil into the fourth largest oil producer in the world.

The equatorial margin, seen by the portfolio commanded by Silveira and by Petrobras as the new oil frontier for Brazil, is where five sedimentary basins are located that can be explored to obtain oil. Among them, Foz do Amazonas, where block 59 is located, is the closest to starting to be explored. The licensing process has been underway at Ibama since 2014.

But Silveira’s bet encounters barriers in the opposition of Marina Silva and goes against it, including the speech of President Lula himself, who highlighted the defense of public policies against possible climate damage from the campaign period to his most recent speeches.

In a recent statement, when asked about the oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon, Marina Silva highlighted the “great impact” on the environment and cited the possibility of carrying out an integrated environmental assessment.

“I face this challenge [do petróleo] the same way I faced Belo Monte. It can have a big impact and we have a tool to deal with high impact projects, which is the integrated environmental assessment. We have to analyze the basin. The strategic environmental assessment instrument […] This instrument can be used for any situation, as long as it is complex. As far as I know, this exploration is complex,” said the minister in an interview with the Samaúma platform, which brings together environmental content from a leftist perspective.

Despite this, the intentions of the Minister of Mines and Energy are supported by the president of Petrobras. In his first message after taking office as president of the state-owned company in January, former senator Jean Paul Prates (PT) defended the expansion of the company’s oil and gas exploratory frontiers, with emphasis on the equatorial margin.

Through the advisory, Petrobras went so far as to state that “the exploration of new reserves is essential for the maintenance of business in oil and gas, even in a scenario of energy transition”.

The president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, endorses Marina Silva’s position by admitting, in interviews, that the recommendation of technicians from the institute that a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) be requested, a broader study of the impacts of an eventual oil activity in that region, is “a real possibility”.

During his 100-day speech in office, Lula repeated a phrase used by Marina in a recent interview: “I never thought of Petrobras as an oil company, it is an energy company,” said the PT. The president added that “Petrobras will finance research into new renewable fuels”. was replicated by Marina on her Twitter account.

In 2008, Marina resigned as Minister of the Environment five days after President Lula publicly said that she was not “exempt” to carry out the Sustainable Amazon Plan (PAS). The Plan was handed over to the coordination of the then Minister of Strategic Affairs at the time, Roberto Mangabeira Unger.

NGOs try to stop oil and gas exploration in the Foz do Amazonas Sedimentary Basin

For energy specialist and lawyer Tiago Santana, exploration of the equatorial margin should help reduce dependence on imported oil. According to Santana, the initiative in Foz do Amazonas could have “a significant impact on the Brazilian economy, helping to boost the country’s economic development”.

The lawyer points out that an understanding on the part of the government is necessary. “The MMA and Ibama are vital bodies, but they cannot block blocks sold in 2013 and some ready to go into operation, always imposing new constraints”.

On the other hand, about 80 NGOs delivered a letter addressed to five ministries last week, in addition to Petrobras, ANP, Funai and Ibama, with the aim of expressing their concern regarding oil and gas exploration activities in the Sedimentary Basin da Foz do Amazonas and pointing this as “another great challenge for Brazil in the face of the commitments assumed in the global scenario”.

Attached to the letter is a “Technical Note – Weaknesses and risks of the environmental licensing of oil and gas exploration activities in Foz do Amazonas” which points out that “the environmental licensing of block 59 has gaps and weaknesses that compromise a robust analysis by Ibama ”.

A similar position was adopted by the president of the Environmentalist Parliamentary Front in Congress, federal deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-SP). For him, the possibility of oil exploration in Foz do Amazonas is “very reckless, as it is a very sensitive region”. Tatto also claims that the impacts can be incalculable and fears especially due to the difficulty of controlling operations.

In the opinion of the PT deputy, it is unlikely that Ibama will release this exploration because there is potential to generate losses for the Brazilian government and for Petrobras itself. “I hope it doesn’t go ahead,” he concluded, referring to Ibama’s authorization for exploration.