Brazil’s state oil company has received a license to conduct exploratory oil drilling in the sea off the Amazon, despite environmental concerns over the project.
The approval will allow Petrobras to drill in a block located in Amapá, 500 km (311 miles) from the mouth of the Amazon River on Brazil’s equatorial margin.
The company said it had demonstrated to the government that it had strong environmental protection structures.
But many environmental advocates have expressed concerns about the plans, including fears that possible oil spills could occur near, via ocean currents, the Amazon, home to about 10 percent of the world’s known species.
Groups such as Greenpeace have also raised concerns that it could undermine Brazil’s climate leadership ahead of hosting the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon city of Belém in November.
The International Energy Agency has also made it clear that no new oil projects should be approved if the goal of global net zero emissions by 2050 is to be achieved.
Petrobras said in a statement that drilling was expected to begin “immediately” and would last five months. The company seeks to assess whether oil and gas exist in the region on an economically viable scale.
It would not produce oil commercially at this stage.
Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva has opposed oil exploration in the Amazon region.
But South American President Lula da Silva supported him on economic grounds and recently defended his position.
Lula told the BBC in September: “Brazil is a country that has oil. And maybe we have oil in the equatorial margin, and we are carrying out investigations. We strictly respect the law.”
He said that if there was a problem or an oil spill, then “we would be the ones responsible for fixing the problem, should it arise.”
He added: “I am all for a world that no longer needs fossil fuels, but that time has not yet come.
“I want to know [of] any country on the planet that is ready to undertake an energy transition and can move away from fossil fuels. »
Other international oil companies, including Exxonmobil and Chevron, have purchased “blocks” in the Amazon region and are awaiting exploration licenses.
Petrobras said it was committed to ensuring “energy security and the resources necessary for a just energy transition” in the country.
He adds that the company was able to “demonstrate the robustness of the entire environmental protection structure that will be available during drilling.”
