Brazil’s national oil company has been granted permission to conduct exploratory oil drilling off the Amazon, despite environmental concerns about the project.
The approval allows Petrobras to drill in a block located in Amapá, 500 kilometers (311 miles) from the mouth of the Amazon River on Brazil’s equatorial edge.
The company said it had demonstrated to the government that it had a strong environmental protection structure in place.
But many conservationists have raised concerns about the plan, including fears that the oil spill will travel through ocean currents closer to the Amazon, home to about 10% of the world’s known species.
Groups such as Greenpeace have raised concerns that it could undermine Brazil’s climate leadership ahead of the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon city of Belem in November.
The International Energy Agency has also made it clear that no new oil projects should be approved if the global goal of net zero emissions by 2050 is to be met.
Petrobras said in a statement that drilling is scheduled to begin “immediately” and will last for five months. The company seeks to assess whether there is oil and gas in the area at an economically viable scale.
There will be no commercial oil production at this stage.
Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva has opposed oil exploration in the Amazon region.
But South American President Lula da Silva supported it on economic grounds and recently defended his position.
Lula told the BBC last September: “Brazil is a country with oil. There may be oil near the equator and we are investigating it. We are strictly following the law.”
He said that if there is a problem or oil spill, “if something happens, we will be the ones responsible for dealing with it.”
He added: “I am all for a world where we will one day no longer need fossil fuels, but this moment has not yet arrived.
“I want to know every country on Earth that is ready for the energy transition and to give up fossil fuels.”
Other international oil companies, including Exxonmobil and Chevron, have purchased “blocks” in the Amazon region and are awaiting exploration permits.
Petrobras said it was committed to ensuring the country’s “energy security and resources necessary for a just energy transition.”
The company added: “We were able to demonstrate the robustness of the overall environmental protection structure for use during drilling.”
