Ibama demands updated schedule from Petrobras for wells in Foz do Amazonas

The new wells are key to determining whether Petrobras' recent oil discovery in the environmentally sensitive region off Brazil's Amazon coast is commercially viable.

The decision, signed on Thursday (03) by the president of Ibama, Jair Schmitt, requires Petrobras to present the agency with an updated drilling project schedule within 30 days of receiving the license.

The announcement reinforces the state-owned company's offensive in the Foz do Amazonas region, where signs of oil have already been found in the first well drilled in block 59.

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) demands that the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) clarify divergences in the information provided regarding licensing for the drilling of oil wells in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, in the FZA-M-59 block.

The charge was forwarded to the president of Ibama, Jair Schmitt, after the MPF identified differences between what representatives of the environmental agency said at a hearing in the Federal Court and what appears in the administrative documents of the process.

In a hearing held in April last year, Ibama representatives stated that the activity would be one-off, lasting around six months. In a subsequent response to the MPF, however, the institute informed that the project foresees a drilling campaign of four wells, with activities between 2025 and 2029.

For the MPF, the divergence in information compromises the transparency of the process and makes it difficult to assess the possible environmental impacts of the activity. The agency also points out that an operation that extends over several years can cause accumulated impacts.

Among the possible effects cited are impacts on marine fauna, artisanal fishing and the way of life of traditional communities. The MPF wants Ibama to explain why it presented different versions about the duration and planning of the drilling.