After Ibama’s refusal, the state-owned company submitted a new licensing request; lack of study was pointed out as a weakness in the process by the institute
A Petrobras requests the carrying out of the AAAS (Environmental Assessment of Sedimentary Area) in the oil production stage in the Foz do Amazonas basin. The proposal was disclosed in a public hearing at the Chamber of Deputies this Wednesday (May 31, 2023) to discuss exploration in the region.
Regulated in 2012, the AAAS must be made by the government before the assignment of new areas for exploration in the auctions of the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels).
In the case of the block where Petrobras is trying to drill a well, the AAAS was replaced by an interministerial ordinance that allowed the assignment of areas. In the denial of Petrobras’ licensing request, on May 17, the IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) indicated the need to carry out the study.
“[A sugestão é] maintain the current rule for blocks already granted and that we consider the AAAS, or any other necessary study, for the production stage, which should still take at least 5 years”, said the general manager of Licensing and Environmental Compliance at Petrobras, Daniele Zaneti Puelker.
For the manager, that way, Petrobras would have time to carry out the necessary studies to incorporate them into the licensing of the production stage. “It is in production that the industry will actually settle in the region and that the impacts, both positive and negative, will be felt. It is in production that the company will settle and operate for 30, 40 or 50 years”, he stated.
On Thursday (May 25), Petrobras presented a new request for a license to drill an oil well in the Foz do Amazonas basin.
The state-owned company made changes to the emergency plan and the fauna protection plan, after Ibama’s opinion, signed by Agostinho, indicated inconsistencies in the documents.
The company is applying for authorization to carry out a pre-operational assessment in the region – a simulation of emergency response. It is also awaiting a license to drill a well in an area acquired at an ANP auction in 2013.
According to Ibama, it is necessary to carry out an AAAS in the Foz do Amazonas basin.
According to the president of Ibama, in the region, an auction of 150 oil blocks was authorized, of which 45 were sold. The ANP intends to offer more than 200 areas in a new competition.
Understand
The Equatorial Margin is an offshore region that extends from Guyana to the State of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil. The Brazilian portion is formed by 5 sedimentary basins – a type of rock formation that allowed the accumulation of sediments over time. The basins are:
- Foz do Amazonas, located in the states of Amapá and Pará;
- Pará-Maranhão, located in Pará and Maranhão;
- Barreirinhas, located in Maranhão;
- Ceará, located in Piauí and Ceará;
- Potiguar, located in Rio Grande do Norte.
Petrobras is trying to drill in the Foz do Amazonas basin, which, despite having that name, it’s not the mouth of the amazon river. The area where the oil well would be drilled is 500 km away from the mouth.
Denied by Ibama, the environmental license refers to a pre-operational test to analyze Petrobras’ response capacity to a possible leak. The order is for the drilling of a well in an exploration block approximately 170 km from the coast. The test would also allow Petrobras to analyze the potential of oil reserves in the region.
The Equatorial Margin is a little explored region, but seen with expectation by the sector. This is because the neighboring countries, Guyana and Suriname, accumulate oil discoveries. In Guyana, the ExxonMobil has more than 25 discoveries announced. In Brazil, only 32 wells were drilled more than 300 meters above sea level, where there are greater chances of discovery.
Exploration in the Foz do Amazonas basin is criticized by environmentalists because it could have impacts on the region’s ecosystem. They claim that Petrobras’ data is out of date, and it is not possible to predict the behavior of the tides in the event of an oil spill and its impacts.
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