The plan was one of the conditions for the environmental agency to proceed with the analysis of the company’s request for a license to explore oil in the Amazon River mouth

02/06/2025 12:56 PM  Updated uma hora

Ivan Werneck Bassères, the coordinator of environmental licensing for oil and gas exploration at the environmental protection agency IBAMA, has requested that the agency’s experts team prioritize the evaluation of the wildlife protection plan submitted by Petrobras. This plan is a prerequisite for the environmental agency to proceed with the licensing application for oil exploration in the Mouth of the Amazon, part of the Equatorial Margin.

In a document released in IBAMA’s system on Tuesday (4), the coordinator asks the technical team to assess the possibility of approving the plan and the feasibility of Petrobras conducting the pre-operational assessment (APO).

The APO is a test in which the company simulates an oil spill in the region and demonstrates its capacity to resolve the issue with teams and vessels. This evaluation is the final step to obtaining the environmental license.

On Monday (3), President Lula indicated to the new President of the Senate Davi Alcolumbre that the government will work to “quickly” unlock exploratory activities in the region. Mr. Lula reportedly said that oil exploration in the Mouth of the Amazon “needs” to be carried out as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, the CEO of the oil company, Magda Chambriard, said that the company responded to all the environmental agency’s demands in November. “We submitted all of Ibama’s requirements in the last days of November. We are constructing the wildlife rehabilitation center in Oiapoque, as requested, which should be ready by March,” she said. “Now, we are awaiting IBAMA’s evaluation of the material we submitted.”

Rodrigo Agostinho, the president of IBAMA, told Valor last Thursday (30) that the license is expected to move forward only after March, when Petrobras anticipates completing the wildlife protection unit.