Lula will arbitrate ministers’ clash over exploration in the Amazon

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will need to arbitrate the tussle between the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, over oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River. The dispute has already generated wear and tear within the government and pressure from the environmental wing with sectors linked to Petrobras, responsible for exploration.

Lula should hammer out his decision in the next few days, right after his return from Japan, where he participated in the G7 meeting. Publicly, the petista has emphatically defended the agenda of protecting the environment and addresses the issue in all international trips. However, he has already indicated that he does not rule out releasing oil exploration in the Amazon region – a position defended by Silveira.

“If extracting oil from Foz do Amazonas, which is 530 kilometers from Amazonas, is on the high seas, if it presents a problem for the Amazon, it will certainly not be explored. But I think it is difficult, because it is 530 kilometers from the Amazon. I will talk to find out,” said Lula during his visit to Japan this Sunday (21).

Last Thursday (18), the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) denied the request for a license for Petrobras to drill the well in the coastal region of Amapá. The state-owned company was just waiting for this authorization to start test drilling in the Foz do Amazonas basin, about 175 kilometers off the coast of Amapá.

Ibama is under the umbrella of the portfolio commanded by Marina Silva, which has been moving against Petrobras’ proposal, linked to Silveira’s ministry. For the head of the environmental portfolio, exploration in the region could have strong environmental impacts, while Silveira’s portfolio alleges that, to meet Brazil’s future demand for oil, the country will have to look for new sources, in addition to the pre-salt layer.

“We’re not here to make things difficult or easy,” she said. “We are here to comply with the law”, said Marina Silva in an interview with GloboNews.

On the other hand, the Minister of Mines and Energy sees “pseudo-risk” in criticisms of Petrobras’ activities in the region. “What is not common sense is that we are not aware of our riches under the pretext of a pseudo-risk, which is not in environmental potential”, he said.

Despite Ibama’s decision, the expectation is that President Lula will give the final word on Petrobras’ license request. In addition, the governors of Amapá, Clécio Luís (SD), and of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB), also participate in the negotiations.

“Lula said that ‘he will have to mediate the matter’ with the ministries of Mines and Energy and the Environment. The governors of Pará and Amapá are addressing this matter with the President of the Republic”, stated Barbalho.

Faced with the dispute within the government, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) tried to mediate the issue last week. He met separately with Marina and Silveira at the Planalto Palace. Alckmin, however, preferred to leave the mediation to Lula, who should arrive in Brazil later this Monday (22).

The current discussion revolves around oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, which is unprecedented. The development, however, would not be the first in an area of ​​environmental concern in the Amazon. For 37 years, Petrobras has had oil and gas production units in onshore fields in the middle of the Amazon Forest, 650 kilometers from Manaus (AM). Polo Urucu, which comprises seven production concessions in an area of ​​350 km² in the Amazon, was put up for sale in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), but the state-owned company reversed its decision last year.

Defeat on the environmental agenda resulted in Lula and Marina breaking up in 2008

The recent dispute between the ministers of the Environment and Mines and Energy follows the same lines as the clash that Marina Silva had in 2008 in the Lula government. At the time, Marina broke with the PT after he decided to build the Belo Monte Power Plant, in Pará, which was defended by the then Minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff.

When she resigned from the ministry, Marina said she felt she no longer had support from Lula and his government for the environmental policy undertaken. At that time, it was seen by PT members as an obstacle to environmental licenses for large infrastructure works. Outside the government, she continued to position herself as an antagonistic force to Dilma.

Marina’s rapprochement with Lula only occurred during last year’s election period, after leaders from the Sustainability Network formed an alliance with the PT in the presidential race. Marina’s allies, however, are currently ruling out a new break with the PT government.

This time, in addition to Marina Silva’s pressure against Alexandre Silveira, at least 80 environmental organizations, including WWF-Brasil and the Climate Observatory, delivered a joint note to the Ministries of Mines and Energy, Native Peoples, Fisheries and Aquaculture , Foreign Affairs and also to Ibama, asking for the shelving of the block’s licensing process.

The main demand of the entities is that an environmental assessment of the sedimentary area be carried out, a kind of strategic study to deepen knowledge about the region.

Government leader breaks with Marina and leaves Rede after Ibama veto

Following Ibama’s decision to veto exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, the government leader in the National Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (AP), announced his disaffiliation from the Rede Sustentabilidade party, founded by Marina Silva. The government leader is in favor of oil exploration in his electoral stronghold.

“I am sure that we will continue together, in the struggle for democracy, justice and the construction of a society free from hunger and oppression. Having said that, I irrevocably request my disaffiliation from the Sustainability Network”, said Rodrigues in a statement. Now, the senator is negotiating his affiliation with the PT.

In addition, Rodrigues promised to fight against Ibama’s decision. “Ibama’s decision contradicts research on the coast of Amapá, it did not listen to the local government or any citizen of my state. The people of Amapá want to have the right to be heard about the possible existence and eventual destination of our riches”, said Randolfe.

Like the Senator from Amapá, supporters of Petrobras drilling a well in the Amazon River basin claim that an eventual oil exploration could expand development in the region. The Ministry of Mines and Energy alleges that only after drilling will evidence of oil accumulation in the region be confirmed.

“I defend that Ibama allows Petrobras to research and, from there, on environmentally correct criteria, define the methodology and mechanism for exploration with the least possible impact. From then on, allow this opportunity to arise”, declared the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho.

In all, Petrobras has already set aside US$ 3 billion, the equivalent of R$ 15 billion to invest in research in the region over the next two years. In a note, Petrobras informed that it intends to appeal against Ibama’s decision.

The president of the state company, Jean Paul Prates, regretted Ibama’s decision and indicated that Petrobras is considering investing in oil exploration in areas of the so-called Equatorial Margin that belong to Guyana and Suriname.

“We have the possibility of becoming a little more international in relation to Guyana, in relation to other places. Perhaps, given the impossibility of drilling at the mouth (of the Amazon River), we can test something in Guyana and Suriname. The pity is that there we will be one more, here we are the state of the piece, it is the host company, the hostess. For now it’s just an idea, an internal conversation,” said Prates in an interview with the newspaper. The State of São Paulopublished this weekend.