Foz de Amazonas: Obama technicians recommend rejection – 10/29/2024 – Environment

Technicians from Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) are responsible for analyzing new studies submitted by Petrobras for oil exploration in the so-called Block 59 of the Foz do Amazonas Basin They rejected the material delivered by the oil company and recommended, in addition to rejecting the environmental license, that the operation be archived.

the Bound He had access to the refusal document, signed by 26 technicians from the Environment Agency, which was presented to the president of the state of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostino.

Although the opinion is clear in emphasizing that the new version of the studies does not in any way change the recommendation made by the technical field already in 2023, when it “proposed to reject the environmental license and save” the application, Rodrigo Agostinho decided to keep the process active and give Petrobras a new opportunity. To provide more information.

the Bound He also obtained Agostinho’s decision on the technical opinion. In it, he confirms that, together with the overall coordination responsible for the operation and the Environmental Licensing Board of Ibama, he has assessed that “the progress made by Petrobras” regarding the plan to protect and assist the animals “allows for continued discussions between the businessman and Ibama, to raise awareness and provide the necessary clarifications.”

In practice, archiving the process recommended by 26 technicians was rejected by the IBMa board. These opinions do not need to be accepted by the administration, but this is an unusual decision within the agency, because it conflicts with the consensus opinion of more than two dozen environmental analysts.

In concluding the opinion, the technicians point out that the re-presentation of studies related to wildlife care does not demonstrate “a solution consistent with the issues previously raised” by the agency.

According to the technical assessment, “no viable alternative has been presented that would satisfactorily mitigate biodiversity loss in the event of an oil spill incident.”

The opinion details the significant marine biodiversity and high ecological sensitivity of ecosystems that may be affected, and concludes that not enough elements were identified in the documents analyzed to permit review of the denial.

Regarding the impacts on indigenous communities in the area, due to air support activities, the new technical opinion states that the solution presented by Petrobras “resulted in an apparent contradiction in the environmental impact study,” because it differentiates between the impacts of aircraft on bird life, with only impact on It is related to drilling activity, i.e. in the middle of the ocean, while indigenous communities have impacts related to the Oyapuk Airport [no Amapá].

Regarding the issue related to indigenous communities, the technicians stated that there was an expectation of increased conflicts in the affected area.

Regarding impacts on animals, the opinion states that “a series of fundamental inconsistencies remain” regarding its adaptation of the Guide to Good Management Practices in Oil-Affected Areas.

“Compositionally, it is noted that the company prominently provided all service times for oil-damaged animals, but ignoring the definition of implementation teams, travel duration, adverse weather conditions and the impossibility of using the drilling vessel or rescue and stabilization vessels,” the technicians say.

Required by BoundPetrobras has not yet commented on the matter.

Ibama’s president, Rodrigo Agostinho, told the reporter that he decided to go ahead with the operation because he still saw room for clarifications from Petrobras about its plan to explore the Foz do Amazonas basin.

Agostino stated that he had made a series of requests for details from the oil company, especially regarding the construction site of a support base for drilling monitoring in Oyabuki, one of the most controversial topics in the case.

“The team is asking for more information. The only thing I did was send these requests for information to Petrobras. Neither I nor the area coordinator [de licenciamento] We understand that it is about archiving. We are still analyzing the reconsideration request.”

Last month, Petrobras’ exploration and production director, Silvia dos Anjos, said she was optimistic about the possibility of obtaining the environmental licence.

Petrobras had hoped to obtain the license by next October to take advantage of the contracted drilling rig operations window for this well, which is being used in another project.

Foz do Amazonas once had 95 oil wells, with only one commercial natural gas discovery and a high rate of abandonment due to operational difficulties that the sector says are a reflection of outdated technology – the area reached its peak of exploration in the 1970s.

Of the 95 wells drilled, 31 were abandoned due to operational difficulties. In the last attempt, in 2011, Petrobras suspended drilling operations due to strong currents.

It occupies an area estimated at about 350 thousand square kilometers²It is equivalent to the state of Goiás, and the basin extends between Marago Bay in Pará and the border with French Guiana.