Foz do Amazonas: Negative was technical, says Ibama – 05/31/2023 – Environment

The president of Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), Rodrigo Agostinho, said this Wednesday (31) that the denial given to Petrobras for oil exploration in a block in Foz do Amazonas was technical and unrelated with energy transition policy issues.

“No Ibama president is going to ‘pencil’, grant a license if everything is not in compliance”, said Agostinho in an audience at the Chamber’s Commission for the Environment and Sustainable Development.

The president of Ibama pointed out that since 2012 the body has been attentive to the particularities of the Foz do Amazonas region. That year, a Petrobras rig was moved by the North Sea current. “Ibama came to understand that it is a different region than what we are used to”, he added.

Agostinho also stated that the region is sensitive due to its proximity to 80% of the mangroves in Brazil and the presence of aquatic mammals, such as the manatee and the sperm whale, in addition to the existence of corals in an area considered by Ibama to be close to the exploration block of Petroleum.

“We have a sensitive fishing area, with great biodiversity, with three conservation units, with indigenous lands. So we will have to be more rigorous.”

To emphasize that there were no political issues in the denial to Petrobras, the president of Ibama pointed out that, this year, the agency granted 23 licenses and authorizations to the company.

“Today, outside the equatorial margin, Ibama is analyzing around 100 Petrobras licensing processes. It is important to say: we have an almost daily relationship. ” said Augustine.

The president of Ibama highlighted three points that were questioned by the agency’s technicians and that did not have a satisfactory answer by Petrobras. Are they:

1. Remote Access. The block intended for oil exploration is 500 km from the mouth of the Amazon River and 800 km from Belém, where the logistics center for emergency response was established.

2. Knowledge gaps. According to the president of Ibama, the region is little studied and, therefore, the environmental impacts are not well detailed. Within this point, the agency points out that the Environmental Assessment of the Sedimentary Area (AAAS) was not presented, through which the region is analyzed and declares whether it is suitable for exploration.

3. Requests for completion in planning. According to Agostinho, Ibama asked for a complement eight times in the individual emergency plans, social communication and fauna protection, without response.

“I can’t say there wasn’t a condescension [do Ibama] to give a chance for the points to be presented”, emphasized Agostinho.

The general coordinator of the Department of Petroleum Exploration and Production Policy of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Carlos Agenor Cabral, stated at the hearing that exploration at Foz do Amazonas does not mean that the government is against the energy transition, as defined in agreements international.

The concern, according to Cabral, is that the current scenario points to an exhaustion of oil sources in 13 years, if Brazil does not find new basins and exploration blocks.

“What is the dilemma we have? Pre-salt, the Campos and Santos basins are exhausted. We need new frontiers, and that’s why we’ve been looking at the equatorial margin for over a decade, because it already has blocks purchased, in advanced licensing processes”, he said.