Petrobras to request reconsideration for Amapá environmental license

Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) will file a request with Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama to reconsider the decision to deny the environmental license to drill an exploratory well in Block FZA-M059 in deep waters offshore Amapá, Brazil.

The company argues that it met requirements set forth in legislation for the bidding process and complied with technical requirements demanded by Ibama for the project, the operator said in a release May 24. The license was awarded to Petrobras in 2013.

Ibama argued in a report that Petrobras’ environmental studies have “inconsistencies” after a series of reviews, pointing specifically to communication with indigenous communities and failure to revise a concern over identifying and evaluating environmental impacts.

For its part, Petrobras said it is “ready to meet any additional demands that may remain.” The company also said it has a commitment signed with Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP) to drill eight exploratory wells in the Amapá deep waters region, in the Foz do Amazonas sedimentary basin, and that “refusal on the grounds of environmental unfeasibility may result in litigation and fines,” and would compromise assessment of the region's potential, energy security, and the country's “fair and safe energy transition.”

Petrobras has been working to open an exploratory frontier on the Brazilian equatorial margin, which lies off northern Brazil near Guyana.