Hearing in Pará on Equatorial Margin divides opinions of politicians and members of civil society – News of Brazil
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The oil and gas exploration project in the so-called Equatorial Margin, a region on the high seas that goes from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte, covering areas in Pará, was the subject of debate in a public hearing held on the morning of this Tuesday (16) , in the Legislative Assembly of Pará (Alepa). The occasion brought together state deputies, councilors from Belém, representatives of Petrobras, the Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (Semas), the Federation of Industries of Pará (Fiepa), Sebrae, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and leaders of society civil. In all, there were more than two hours of discussions on the topic and its impacts on the state. Outside the House, a group protested against oil exploration.
The hearing was convened by state deputy Gustavo Sefer (PSB). The central objective of the meeting, according to the parliamentarian, is to hear what people in the region think and explain the importance of the enterprise for the state. “We understand that Pará is having a very big opportunity, perhaps one of the greatest in recent decades, which is the great potential that we have here on the Equatorial Margin. All the previous studies indicate that we have, perhaps, Petrobras’ words, a new pre-salt layer, with the capacity to guarantee our energy independence in the coming years and, unfortunately, Ibama recently denied the possibility of studying”.
A document must be forwarded to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and to President Lula (PT). With this, the expectation is that there will be a reconsideration for the release of studies on the Equatorial Margin. “Petrobras has already submitted a reconsideration request pointing out the items that were taken into consideration by Ibama to give the initial negative. This reconsideration has already been presented and is being analyzed by, they do not have a deadline to give a response, but we understand that initiatives like this are very important so that they can listen to the states and regions that will be directly affected”he concluded.
Senate Hearing
This Wednesday (16), in a joint public hearing in the Senate with the presence of Jean Paul Prates, president of Petrobras, Senator Lucas Barreto, from Amapá, questioned Prates about Petrobras’ commitment to oil exploration on the Brazilian equatorial margin. Prates replied that the process is at an early stage and minimized the potential environmental risks associated with oil production in the region.
The hearing was promoted by the Infrastructure and Development in this Regional and Tourism commissions.
According to Prates, if the environmental license is granted, effective production can take up to eight years to start. He also clarified that the region already has oil exploration activities, citing the example of the Urucu Complex, which has operated in the Amazon since 1986 and drains oil through the Amazon River to the Manaus refinery. He defended the idea that this exploration on the Brazilian equatorial margin would be one of the least risky and would have the potential to generate government and local revenues.
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