Brazil: Lula calls oil discovered off the coast of the Amazon a “passport to the future”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday called oil recently discovered off the coast of the Amazon in an exploration disputed by environmentalists a “passport to the future”. The Brazilian public company Petrobras announced on Friday that it had detected indications of the presence of oil in deep waters 175 km from the coast of the Amazon, in a vast maritime region called the Equatorial Margin.

The company began drilling in October 2025, after a five-year procedure to obtain an environmental permit. Environmental organizations have warned of a risk to a region rich in biodiversity off the coast of the world's largest rainforest. The discovered oil is “a passport for the future of this country and in saying that, I do not renounce my fight so that one day we no longer need fossil fuels,” Lula assured Monday at the Petrobras base of operations, dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

Strengthening “national sovereignty”

He estimated that the exploitation of new reserves will strengthen “national sovereignty”. “I'm going to keep it in a box, (...) it smells so good,” said the left-wing leader, showing off a sample of crude, after visiting the ship that discovered oil on the high seas last week. According to Petrobras president Magda Chambriard, 15 to 20 days of drilling are still needed to measure the scale of the discovery.

Studies also need to be carried out to determine whether it can be called "commercial", although there are reasons to be "extremely optimistic", she added. The discovery of oil “does not resolve the problems identified in the process of granting the environmental license”, reacted to AFP Suely Araujo, coordinator of the Climate Observatory NGO network.

According to the expert, the indigenous populations of the region were not consulted before authorizing the drilling and there were miscalculations on the consequences of a possible oil spill. Lula, 80, will seek a fourth non-consecutive term in October's elections. He says he is in favor of gradually abandoning fossil fuels in order to curb climate change, but considers that his country, the world's ninth largest oil producer last year, cannot do without the oil windfall at this stage.