Marina says Ibama’s decision on Foz do Amazonas was ‘technical’

Minister Marina Silva (Environment) stated in an interview with Canal Gov this Wednesday that Ibama’s decision to grant a license to drill an exploratory well in Foz do Amazonas was “technical”.

— The first thing is that Ibama gave a technical license, all the work done by Ibama technicians was rigorous, so much so that this license was assessed within Ibama since it was still a private company and then passed to Petrobras. This process has been going on since 2014 and now we have reached the final stretch — said Marina Silva in an interview with a public TV network.

Marina highlighted that the license, at this moment, is for prospecting wells with the aim of checking whether there is oil in the location and in what quantity, still without an exploratory nature.

— Ibama, throughout this process, achieved several improvements for this project. One of them, which is fundamental, is the support, or relief, base for what experts call oiled fauna. In the initial project, the base was in Belém, 800km from where the prospecting would take place. Ibama understood that it was unacceptable because the transport time for these animals, these species, was so long that there would certainly be no way to guarantee their rescue — said the minister. The new base will be 160km away.

— All the demands that Ibama made were highly necessary, and if it weren’t for Ibama’s rigor, if it had been a logic of letting it go, in an anti-republican manner, a license would have been made to the detriment of the environment and Brazil’s interests.

According to Petrobras, drilling in the Foz do Amazonas Basin is expected to begin immediately, with an estimated duration of five months.” Through this exploratory research, the company seeks to obtain more geological information and assess whether there is oil and gas in the area on an economic scale. There is no oil production at this stage.

Petrobras’ 2025-2029 investment plan reserves around US$3 billion for investments in Marquem Equatorial, including the drilling of the well released by Ibama this Monday.

In a statement, Petrobras recalled that it took almost five years to obtain the license. “In this process, the company was able to prove the robustness of the entire environmental protection structure that will be available during drilling in deep waters in Amapá,” added the company.

“We will operate in the Equatorial Margin with safety, responsibility and technical quality. We hope to obtain excellent results in this research and prove the existence of oil in the Brazilian portion of this new global energy frontier”, said Magda Chambriard, president of Petrobras.

What Ibama analyzed

Ibama reported that the license was issued after a “rigorous environmental licensing process”, which included the preparation of an Environmental Impact Study (EIA/RIMA), the holding of three public hearings, 65 sectoral technical meetings in more than 20 municipalities in the states of Pará and Amapá, inspections of all emergency response structures and the offshore drilling unit, in addition to carrying out a Pre-Operational Assessment, which involved more than 400 people, including Petrobras employees and collaborators and Ibama’s technical team.

Ibama even rejected the license in 2023, but Petrobras appealed. After this moment, Ibama and Petrobras began an intense discussion. According to the environmental agency, this allowed “a significant substantial improvement of the project presented, especially with regard to the emergency response structure”.

Study points out: Foz do Amazonas could add 6.2 billion recoverable barrels, more than half of Petrobras’ current proven reserves

Ibama said that, among the improvements implemented, the following stand out:

• The construction and operationalization of another large Rehabilitation and Depetrolization Center (CRD), in the municipality of Oiapoque (AP), which adds to the one already existing in Belém (PA);
• Inclusion of three offshore vessels dedicated to servicing oiled fauna, four nearshore service vessels, among other opportunity resources.

“The additional requirements for the response structure were fundamental for the environmental viability of the project, considering the exceptional environmental characteristics of the Foz do Amazonas basin region”, states Ibama. “In addition, during the drilling activity, a new simulated emergency response exercise will be carried out, focusing on wildlife care strategies.”

Deadline for rig contract would end tomorrow

On the 16th, Magda had expressed concern about the delay in obtaining the license, as the rig contract expires tomorrow.

— I expected the license to have already been approved. The concern is the 21st, which is the limit of the rig contract. If we don’t start drilling by the 21st, this rig may be removed from the location and, if this happens and is replaced by another rig in the future, the licensing process starts all over again — said Magda during an event at Firjan.

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said that the “Equatorial Margin represents the future of our energy sovereignty” and that “Brazil cannot give up knowing its potential”.

“We made a firm and technical defense to ensure that exploration is carried out with total environmental responsibility, within the highest international standards, and with concrete benefits for Brazilians. Our oil is one of the most sustainable in the world, with one of the lowest carbon footprints per barrel produced, as well as our highly renewable energy matrix, which is an example for the world”, stated minister Alexandre Silveira.

Silveira has defended, since the beginning of his administration, the strategic importance of the Equatorial Margin for national energy security and for the development of the North and Northeast regions of the country.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized Ibama several times for the delay in granting the license and even called the process a “nonsense”. The defense of approval of the license was a commitment between Lula and the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), elected by the state, and a bet to generate jobs and investments in the region.

What is the Equatorial Margin?

The safety of oil exploration in the region is the main concern of environmentalists. The Foz do Amazonas Basin is part of the Equatorial Margin, an area of ​​more than 2,200 kilometers of coastline in the North and Northeast, between the states of Amapá and Rio Grande do Norte.

Environmentalists say that the region is home to the mangroves of the North Coast, which are the largest mangrove belt in the world, in addition to the large Amazon reef system, discovered only in 2016. An oil accident, then, could compromise this entire ecosystem.

Discovery in Guyana and appetite from multinationals

Interest in oil exploration in the basin grew after the discovery of large oil reserves off the coast of Guyana. A former colony of Spain, the Netherlands and the British Empire, Guyana made its first discoveries in 2015, attracting mainly the American company Exxon.

In addition to the wells in operation, the country has proven reserves of 12 billion to 15 billion barrels. With discoveries and prospecting in the region, the country should see its oil production increase fivefold in the next decade, according to a projection made by international consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

In Brazil, the appetite of multinationals is also great. In June, Brazil auctioned 19 of the 47 blocks offered in the Foz do Amazonas Basin. Petrobras, Exxon Mobil and Chevron won exploration rights in the region, betting that Ibama would soon open the promising offshore area for drilling.