Ibama releases research for oil exploration in blocks on the Equatorial Margin

Ibama released this Friday (29) the first environmental license to drill wells for the purpose of researching production capacity in the Equatorial Margin. The authorization covers two blocks in the Potiguar Basin segment, located on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte. The license for drilling in the region was granted after a dispute between Ibama and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The blocks that can be explored are BM-POT-17 and POT-M-762, purchased in an auction by Petrobras in 2005 and 2018, respectively. The Equatorial Margin extends from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. The oil company twice requested authorization from Ibama to drill in the Amazon basin, on the coast of Amapá. However, the requests were denied by Ibama, which claimed the lack of an environmental assessment.

With this Friday’s approval, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said he was “certain that Ibama technicians will be able to dedicate themselves, even more diligently than they have already done, and advance in the studies of the necessary conditions for research of the Equatorial Margin also on the coast of Amapá”.

The ministry stated that the liberated region is far from the mouth of the Amazon River. The ministry’s expectation is that the two blocks have the potential for up to two billion barrels of oil. “Ibama positively evaluated the structure employed by the company, as well as the execution of the strategy to protect coastal conservation units,” said the ministry, in a statement.

“This is the possibility of finding gas to reindustrialize Brazil, of generating more resources for the social fund, for health and education. It means more resources to finance the energy transition and, therefore, advance even faster in the migration of the fuel matrix fossil fuels for the true energy transition. We will improve our decarbonization policy through biofuels and invest in clean energy: wind, solar, biomass and biomethane”, said Silveira.