Understand Petrobras’ plan to drill the mouth of the Amazon – 05/20/2023 – Environment

The decision by Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) to deny Petrobras’ request to drill at the mouth of the Amazon River could unfold into new chapters.

Once the refusal was announced, the leader of the Lula government in the National Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues, decided to leave the Network, the party of the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva. He is one of the supporters of the project.

There were also repercussions within the government. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, defends that the company does not give up.

The state-owned company, in turn, announced this Friday (19) that it is analyzing the request from Silveira’s portfolio to insist on studies and oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon.

See below the main points of the case.

What happened?

An internal opinion from Ibama, signed on April 20, recommended denying Petrobras an environmental license to explore oil in Foz do Amazonas.

The document followed the analysis of the institute’s technical team, which concluded that “complementary information and additional measures are necessary for the continuation of the environmental licensing process”.

Last Wednesday (17), the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, followed the opinion and denied the company’s request. “There is no doubt that Petrobras was offered every opportunity to remedy critical points of its project, but that it still presents worrying inconsistencies for the safe operation in a new exploratory frontier of high socio-environmental vulnerability.”

In response, Petrobras stated that “all resources mobilized in Amapá and Pará to carry out the Pre-Operational Assessment (simulated to test emergency response plans) were made strictly in compliance with Ibama decisions and approvals”.

Why did Ibama deny Petrobras’ request?

The institute claims that the plans presented by the company are insufficient to guarantee the safety of the venture and that an AAAS (Environmental Assessment of Sedimentary Area) was not delivered, a study that analyzes whether the region, and not just the specific drilling block, is suitable or not to be exploited, considering the characteristics of the environment.

Ibama also says that the request was incomplete in points such as a fauna protection plan and a social communication plan for indigenous communities. According to a technical note from the institute, there was “the finding of environmental impacts not foreseen in the EIA [estudo de impacto ambiental] and without mitigating measures prepared in a reasoned manner and subject to verification of effectiveness”.

Another negative point was the response time in eventual disasters. Although Petrobras has proposed to mobilize helicopters and support vessels in the event of a leak, the base of operations is in Belém (PA), 830 kilometers from the well. It would take 43 hours for a vessel to leave there and reach the drilled site.

According to Ibama, the region of the mouth is of extreme socio-environmental sensitivity because it has conservation units, indigenous lands, mangroves and great marine biodiversity.

What does Petrobras say?

Petrobras argues that the drilling phase is only preliminary, of short duration and to verify the existence of an underground reserve.

The company argues that, as the environmental impacts would only occur in the following phases of the operation —such as the installation of bases and the extraction of oil itself—, they should not be considered at this time of licensing.

It also reiterates that the AAAS is not a mandatory part of the environmental licensing and that other impact studies have been carried out for the region.

He also says that the discoveries made during the drilling stage can help in “complementing information gaps”.

What are the next steps?

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG), asked Petrobras to reiterate the request to Ibama, “making all the necessary efforts to meet the conditions and prove the suitability of the project for the safe and sustainable prospecting of the area” .

Silveira also requested that the company keep the rig and other equipment needed for the test mobilized at the mouth of the Amazon River. The structure has been in the region since December 18th and, with Ibama’s refusal, the company considered transporting it to activities in basins in the Southeast.

This Friday (19), Petrobras said that it was analyzing the minister’s request and that “it remains committed to the development of the Brazilian equatorial margin, recognizing the importance of new frontiers to ensure the country’s energy security and the necessary resources for the energy transition fair and sustainable”.

What is the political impact of Ibama’s decision?

Ibama’s decision was celebrated by entities linked to the climate agenda and was considered a victory for the Ministry of the Environment. On the other hand, it went against the expectations of Petrobras, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the leader of the Lula government in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues.

Senator for Amapá, Rodrigues sees in the project an opportunity to generate jobs and economic growth for the state he represents and resigned from the Network, party of Minister Marina Silva, less than 24 hours after the institute denied the license.

The senator claims that he will meet with other instances of the federal government to fight against the decision.