Petrobras reaffirms its intention to drill at the mouth of the Amazon and denies government crisis

The president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, reaffirmed this Wednesday (19) the intention of the state company to explore oil and natural gas in the so-called “Equatorial Margin” in Brazil, the coastal strip that goes from Amapá to Rio Grande do Norte. It is there that the company is applying for a license from Ibama to carry out a test drilling in an area at the mouth of the Amazon River, which has generated an internal crisis in the government.

Prates said that exploration of the area is a matter for the State, and that the government is “moving to resolve this issue internally”. The statement was given during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.

According to the president, the dispute with Ibama, which denied the drilling license, ended up involving other government bodies in the discussion, such as the Civil House and the Attorney General’s Office (AGU). And it reached the presidency of the Republic, in which vice president Geraldo Alckmin had to intervene in the crisis that ended up being generated between ministers Alexandre Silveira, of Mines and Energy, and Marina Silva, of the Environment.

The company claims that Petrobras’ very survival depends on exploring this area, which will supply production after the depletion of the pre-salt deposits in the Campos Basin, forecast for the next decade.

“These basins will reach maturity, pre-salt production will reach its peak around 2030, 2032, and for Brazilian energy security. For us, as a company, to be able to survive as an oil exploration company, we need new exploratory frontiers”, said Petrobras exploration and production director, Joelson Mendes, in the interview.

Increased gas production

Also during the interview, Prates commented on what would be a charge from Silveira to increase the supply of natural gas by the company, which has from 45% to 49.6% of production reinjected into exploration wells, according to the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas Natural and Biofuels (ANP), due to the lack of a better production flow infrastructure.

Prates said that the minister is in charge of making demands and receiving information, but that he is doing his job correctly. “No one deliberately withholds gas or fails to monetize gas because they want to,” he said.

“I respect the minister, the ministers, the President of the Republic, they are the majority and controlling shareholders of the company, but we are doing our job and explaining things, as we are explaining to society. The fact is that we are doing our job correctly, ”he said.

The charge for increasing the supply of natural gas began after the government was questioned about its intention to finance the construction of one of the sections of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, in Argentina, at a cost of R$ 4.2 billion by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development. (BNDES), at the beginning of the year.

According to the Coalition for the Competitiveness of Natural Gas Raw Material, halving the volume of gas reinjected in Brazilian wells would enable investments of around R$ 98 billion in new projects in the chemical, petrochemical and fertilizer industries that use the fuel.

The entity, which brings together representatives of these sectors and the natural gas industry, calculates that the amount would allow an increase of R$ 402 billion in the nominal Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in addition to generating 2.8 million new jobs, increasing R$ 54 billion to the salary mass and increase by R$ 9 billion the State collection through taxes.