2024-10-30 01:10:00
By Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The president of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) has decided to proceed with the analysis of Petrobras’ (BVMF:) request to explore Foz do Amazonas, according to documents seen by Reuters this Tuesday, after the agency’s technicians had recommended its rejection.
In an official letter, Rodrigo Agostinho, president of Ibama, asked Petrobras for further clarification regarding the company’s request to explore a well in Foz do Amazonas, on the coast of the state of Amapá.
Last year, Ibama rejected Petrobras’ request to drill the well, but the company submitted a new request, which is currently being examined by the agency. Ibama does not have a deadline to judge the appeal.
The letter from the president of Ibama came after the negative opinion of the agency’s technical team, in which Agostinho was recommended to reject the environmental license and to close the process because the oil company did not present “sufficient elements” that would allow the review of the original technical suggestion of the body.
The area is part of the Equatorial Margin, considered by Petrobras to be the most promising frontier for oil and gas exploration. The decision to drill in the region is controversial given the area’s biodiversity and its proximity to the Amazon rainforest.
In an opinion sent to Agostinho, Ibama technicians argue that Petrobras does not present “a viable alternative that satisfactorily reduces the loss of biodiversity in the event of an oil spill accident.”
Nonetheless, the president of Ibama specified in his letter that the progress presented by Petrobras in the preparation of the Plan for the Protection and Assistance of Oiled Fauna (PPAF) “allows the continuation of discussions between the entrepreneur and Ibama”, and he added that the State-the investee company must present the “necessary clarifications”.
Contacted by Reuters, Petrobras did not immediately respond outside business hours.
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