By Fabio Teixeira
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The technical staff at Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama recommended that the body deny authorization for Petrobras to carry out drilling in the environmentally sensitive Foz do Amazonas region, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The final decision will be taken by Ibama’s President Rodrigo Agostinho. The agency is under pressure by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said earlier this month that “Ibama is a government agency that seems to be against the government” due to its delay in conceding the license to drill.
The license was denied at least in part because there was not a big change in the plan to assist local fauna in case of an oil spill, one source told Reuters.
In May 2023, Ibama denied Petrobras’ request for an offshore drilling license for the Foz do Amazonas area off the coast of Amapa state, citing environmental concerns. The oil company appealed soon after, but a final Ibama decision is pending.
The offshore site Petrobras’ wants to drill at is in Brazil’s Equatorial Margin. At the northern end of the area is Brazil’s most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil is developing huge fields.
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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