Foz do Amazonas: Lula will make decree on environmental study – 03/25/2024 – Environment

Rodrigo Agostinho, director of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), says that President Lula (PT) will publish a presidential decree “in the next few days” on the need to carry out the study called AAAS (Area Environmental Assessment Sedimentary) in environmentally sensitive locations for oil exploration, such as the Foz do Amazonas basin.

AAAS, which is a joint responsibility of the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) and the MMA (Ministry of the Environment), assesses the impact of the entire fossil fuel chain in an environmentally sensitive area.

Last year, the study was at the center of the debate about oil exploration on the equatorial margin, after Ibama denied Petrobras a license to research oil in block 59 of the Foz do Amazonas basin. In its opinion, the environmental body cited the absence of AAAS as one of the reasons for the state’s refusal.

Although AAAS is not a legal prerequisite for authorizing drilling in Brazil, it “is an important instrument that measures the environmental viability of a project”, says Agostinho. ”It is a study that does not look exclusively at the drilling area. He evaluates the whole.”

AAAS was established in Brazil in a 2012 interministerial decree, according to which this type of study should be presented for environmental licensing. The rule, however, did not become practical in Brazil.

Also according to the ordinance, the person carrying out this study is the Ministry of Mines and Energy together with the Ministry of the Environment.

The decree to be published by Lula will apply not only to Foz do Amazonas, says Agostinho, and will help “regulate strategic environmental assessments for all of Brazil.”

Petrobras is betting on the equatorial margin, a region that stretches along the north coast of the country, from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte, as the new oil frontier. The company plans to invest more than R$15 billion in the region, almost half of its budget until 2028.

At the beginning of this year, Petrobras drilled its first exploratory well on the equatorial margin, close to Rio Grande do Norte.

Last year, the licensing of block 59 — which is 160 km to 179 km off the coast of Amapá, towards the city of Oiapoque — generated tension between the environmental and energy sectors of the Lula government. The decree establishing the need to hold the AAAS can, therefore, serve as a turning point in the dispute between MME and MMA.

Amid the crisis between the wings, minister Marina Silva reiterated that Ibama’s licensing decisions are technical, not political.

“Petrobras is today Ibama’s main client”, reinforces Agostinho. Although, in many cases, Ibama grants licenses to Petrobras, sometimes, for technical reasons, it needs to deny them, he also says. “But last year Petrobras was still the champion of licenses issued by Ibama itself.”

On the other side, the MME, led by minister Alexandre Silveira, and Petrobras argue that the plan presented by the state-owned company is safe and that Brazil should not be left behind in exploring the region, which has already made Guyana an oil power.

After Ibama denied the license for block 59, Petrobras immediately submitted a new application for the same area in Foz do Amazonas. While Ibama was analyzing the new request, both the MME and Petrobras tried to increase pressure on the environmental agency last year.

In August, Silveira asked the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) for a legal opinion on the case. The AGU concluded that the absence of an AAAS could not prevent licensing from being carried out.

In reaction to AGU’s position, Marina Silva stated, at the time, that “Ibama never said it was [condicionante]”. “He said it is a planning tool that certainly helps in the licensing processes. I can do it with a magnified lens, looking at the developments in the basin [da Foz do Amazonas]”, he also commented.

In October, the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, stated at an event at BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) that he hopes to be able to drill in the region in 2024. “We have every legitimate expectation that, even in the first half of 2024 , or at the latest throughout the year, head towards Amapá to drill the equatorial margin.”

“We received a lot of pressure in all forms, political, technical, everything”, says Agostinho. “A presidential decision helps everyone have the same understanding”, he assesses, regarding the decree expected soon.

Asked why the decree came out at this time, Agostinho states that “things take a certain amount of time to mature”. For him, the complexity of the region was understood by the government.

Lula, who defends the exploration of the equatorial margin, has the environmental agenda as one of Brazil’s main flags in diplomacy. This Tuesday (26), the president will receive the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Belém.