Ibama fined Petrobras R$625.5 thousand in Foz do Amazonas – 03/20/2024 – Environment

Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) fined Petrobras R$ 625.5 thousand for environmental infraction in the attempt to explore oil in the Foz do Amazonas basin, in a block close to that of the state-owned company and the Lula government. (PT) are trying to explore in 2024.

The fine was applied in July 2017 and has not yet been paid, according to the debt status reported in the Ibama system.

The infraction involves disrespecting a condition set out in the operating license, which dealt with the production and disposal of drilling fluids and gravel, as shown in documents from the federal agency.

In a statement, Petrobras stated that there was no generation of waste that required monitoring and that “there is no need to talk about an environmental infraction due to non-compliance with the conditions of the operating license”.

“The license was issued on 23/09/2011. Drilling in the block took place until the beginning of 2012, strictly following the requirements of the current operating license”, cites the note. “The condition was included in the first rectification of the operating license, which occurred on 07/12/2013.”

The notice is one of more than 3,000 issued due to infractions committed by the state-owned company in the last ten years, such as Sheet showed in a report published on Saturday (16). The debts total R$985.6 million, and only R$49.9 million –5%– were paid. The vast majority of infractions are associated with oil exploration, such as the release of oil and contaminated water.

The infraction notice in Amapá refers to offshore drilling in the FZA-4 block, which is located at a distance of 110 km to 126 km from the state’s Amazon coast, near Oiapoque. The so-called block 59, which Petrobras is trying to explore later this year, is 160 km to 179 km from the coast, on the same city line.

The first exploration attempt in the basin, which resulted in the fine, occurred in 2011, when an accident ended with damage to equipment and a leak of hydraulic oil. The project was abandoned for good in 2016.

In the following years, the state-owned company resumed its plan to expand oil production by exploring the Amazon coast, in the same basin, Foz do Amazonas. The plan extends along the Brazilian equatorial margin, beyond the Amazon limits.

In May 2023, the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, followed the agency’s technical opinions and denied granting a license to drill block 59. Petrobras appealed and is pressing for a license to be issued in 2024.

Lula is in favor of oil exploration on the Amazon coast, despite the environmental risks, criticism for investing in fossil fuels and the contradiction with plans made by the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, within international commitments to mitigate climate change .

The new venture takes place amid environmental liabilities from the previous attempt to drill a block in the Foz do Amazonas basin.

In addition to the fine, Petrobras is delaying the payment of environmental compensation whose original value is R$140,000, calculated based on the risk of drilling in the FZA-4 block. Compensations of this type are obligations provided for by law, in the case of projects with great environmental impact. The money is destined for conservation units.

The state-owned company acted at least six times to delay the deposit of compensation, the value of which was updated to R$282 thousand. The process has dragged on for more than nine years, and payment is scheduled for April. In total, the state-owned company is delaying the payment of environmental compensation totaling R$980 million.

In the case of the fine issued in 2017, Ibama stated that Petrobras “failed to meet condition 2.11 of operating license No. 1,048/2011”.

This license was granted in 2011 – and rectified in 2013 – for drilling the FZA-4 block in the Foz do Amazonas basin.

The aforementioned condition determined that “the company must produce, transport, use and dispose of drilling fluids, complementary fluids and cement pastes following the guidelines for the use and disposal of drilling fluids, complementary fluids and gravel”.

According to Petrobras, the condition was only required after drilling the block. “Petrobras promptly filed an administrative appeal questioning the environmental infraction, which did not occur,” he said.

In the same license, the previous condition, number 2.10, provided for the need to pay environmental compensation, which was contested by Petrobras.

To define the value of this compensation, Ibama calculates the degree of environmental impact of the project. Drilling in the FZA-4 block had an impact level of 0.28%, on a scale that goes from 0% to 0.5%.

Drilling in block 59 has an impact level of 0.5%, the maximum value. There is a high magnitude of negative impact, influence on biodiversity formed by species threatened with extinction and compromise of areas that are still unknown, according to the criteria used by the federal agency.

The main components of the indicator — magnitude of impacts, biodiversity, persistence of impacts and commitment to priority areas — were defined at their maximum values, which led to the index of 0.5%.

Based on this calculation, the environmental compensation for drilling in block 59, mandatory by law, should be R$4.3 million, defined Ibama.

Regarding the environmental compensation due, Petrobras says that there are no pending issues, that it complies with the legislation and its obligations and that it signs the terms of commitment as soon as the documents are made available.