Brazil’s state-controlled energy giant Petrobras is getting closer to obtaining an exploration permit to drill in an environmentally sensitive offshore region in the Amazon basin.
Petrobras, which has been seeking for years to obtain a license to drill in Foz do Amazonas and the wider region known as the Equatorial Margin, has received authorization for a so-called pre-operational assessment in the area, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues said in a video posted on Instagram.
The pre-operational assessment is typically the last step before the issuance of an exploration license.
Petrobras will carry out the test offshore the state of Amapa, 170 km (106 miles) off the coast, said Rodrigues, who is elected from Amapa and is the Brazilian government’s leader in Congress.
Petrobras and the Brazilian environmental agency, Ibama, have set the date for the pre-assessment, which is expected to begin in late August and last up to four days, Sylvia Anjos, Petrobras Executive Director of Exploration and Production, told Bloomberg.
Petrobras believes the Equatorial Margin has a significant oil resource potential, especially in light of recent huge discoveries in nearby regions such as Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.
U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil and Chevron have also expressed interest in the area, bidding and winning blocks in the tender for exploration rights earlier this year.
Petrobras has earmarked $3 billion for investment, and the drilling of 15 wells, in the Equatorial Margin over the next five years. The Equatorial Margin is set to receive 38% of Petrobras’ total exploration investment of $8 billion.
Petrobras continues to implement its multi-year strategic plan to boost production. Raising oil and gas output is a priority for Brazil, too, the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has acknowledged, despite the goals to reduce emissions.
Lula and other top Brazilian officials argue that emissions reductions and net zero would need a lot of investment, part of which could come from Brazil’s proceeds from oil and gas sales.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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