Ibama, in its final technical report, highlighted potential risks to already declining populations of manatees from the movement of vessels and equipment in the region and said Petrobras must participate in their conservation.
Petrobras has said its models show that an oil spill at the offshore site “would not be likely to reach the coast” and there would be “no direct impact” on Indigenous communities.
“We hope to obtain excellent results from this research and prove the existence of oil in the Brazilian portion of this new global energy frontier,” said Magda Chambriard, president of Petrobras, in a statement.
Brazil meets most of its energy needs through renewables and exports more than half of its oil, so emissions from new oil production will not add to its own greenhouse gas tally, but will still be released globally.
“Authorizing new oil licenses in the Amazon is not just a historic mistake – it’s doubling down on a model that has already failed,” said Ilan Zugman of the advocacy group 350.org.
“MASSIVE BIODIVERSITY LOSS”
Ibama denied Petrobras an exploration license in 2023, citing inadequate plans to protect wildlife in case of an oil spill.
As Petrobras appealed, pressure rose from Lula, who said earlier this year that Ibama was a government agency acting as if it was “against the government”.
In February, an Ibama technical opinion seen by AFP said the recommendation remained to “deny the environmental license”, citing the risk of “massive biodiversity loss in a highly sensitive marine ecosystem”.
In May, Ibama chief Rodrigo Agostinho cleared Petrobras to conduct an oil-spill drill, the last step before licensing.
The test exposed gaps in wildlife protection, but Ibama said Monday that another exercise would occur “during the drilling activity”.
