Foz do Amazonas: Petrobras appeals after refusal by Ibama – 05/18/2023 – Environment

Petrobras will appeal against Ibama’s (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) denial of oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon. The environmental agency’s decision on drilling the basin was taken on Wednesday night (17) by the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho.

The company said, this Thursday afternoon (18), that it has not yet been officially notified by the institute, and that it will forward the appeal on the environmental licensing process for block FZA-M-59.

Ibama’s justification for denying the oil company’s request for oil research in the area was the lack of information in the project. “This still presents worrying inconsistencies for the safe operation in a new exploratory frontier of high socio-environmental vulnerability”, said Agostinho in the document.

Petrobras says it met all of Ibama’s requirements in Amapá and Pará for the assessment.

“All the resources mobilized in Amapá and Pará to carry out the Pre-Operational Assessment (simulated to test emergency response plans) were made strictly in compliance with Ibama decisions and approvals”, says the company, in a note.

Ibama, in denying the request, pointed to the lack of the so-called Environmental Assessment of the Sedimentary Area (AAAS). The study carried out through the soil analyzes whether the region, and not just the specific drilling block, is apt or not to be explored —considering the characteristics of the environment.

Petrobras claims that the study is not mandatory and that it has filed others that demonstrate the viability of the undertaking.

Ibama, in addition to the AAAS issue, pointed out that the request was incomplete in points such as a fauna protection plan and a social communication plan for indigenous communities. According to a technical note from the institute, there was also “the finding of environmental impacts not foreseen in the EIA [estudo de impacto ambiental] and without mitigating measures prepared in a reasoned manner and subject to verification of effectiveness”.

Ibama states that the region of the basin at the mouth of the Amazon is of extreme socio-environmental sensitivity as it brings together conservation units, indigenous lands, mangroves and great marine biodiversity.

According to the agency, the area is home to endangered species such as gray dolphin, red dolphin, sperm whale, fin whale, manatee, Amazonian manatee and tracajá.

“Petrobras reaffirms that the drilling of the well object of this license is located at a distance of 175 kilometers from the coast of Amapá and more than 500 kilometers away from the mouth of the Amazon River”, says the company’s note.

With the negative, the rig and other equipment positioned by Petrobras in the region, awaiting the license for the research, will be directed to activities in basins in the Southeast, says the company in the note.

Pressure for the project came from Petrobras, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and even the leader of the government in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues, who resigned this Thursday from the Network, party of the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, after losing the drilling dispute.

“It is undeniable that it has a very high environmental, symbolic and political impact”, said the minister about the project on Monday (15), during a seminar organized by the Sheet.

Minister Alexandre Silveira, of Mines and Energy, told the Panel column that the studies are “for knowledge of Brazil’s mineral potential”. He defended that research on oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon should not be impeded.

The ministry also stated in a note that it received Ibama’s decision with “naturalness and due institutional respect”. “The folder had already asked Petrobras to deepen the studies to solve greater doubts”, he says.

According to the MME, the portfolio’s objective is to seek a balance between economic development, social justice and the environment.

“The entire process of discussing the issue has guaranteed the full participation of the bodies involved in the issue and will respect the guidelines of President Lula’s government, of union and reconstruction, of trust and dialogue, taking into account respect for the environment and issues social and economic interests of the country”, complements the folder.

Petrobras says it remains committed to the Brazilian equatorial margin project, “recognizing the importance of new frontiers to ensure the country’s energy security and the necessary resources for a fair and sustainable energy transition.”

In the company’s strategic plan for the period from 2023 to 2027, almost US$ 3 billion (about R$ 17 billion) are foreseen for the exploration of the equatorial margin, where it has already acquired other blocks.

Also according to the company, in a note, the development of the block is a “commitment assumed by Petrobras before the ANP [Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis do Brasil]which will incur a contractual fine if not carried out.”

wanted by Sheet to comment on the terms of the commitment and the amount of the fine, Petrobras did not respond until the publication of the text.

The environmental licensing process for block FZA-M-59 began on April 4, 2014, at the request of BP Energy do Brasil, the company originally responsible for the project. In December 2020, oil exploration rights in the block were transferred to Petrobras.

This Wednesday’s denial is the second for a project in the region. The first took place in 2018, following a license request for five blocks under the control of Total.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}