PT wants to stop Petrobras in Foz do Amazonas and evaluates action before Lula takes office

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The PT is considering going to court to interrupt the licensing process that aims to free Petrobras to drill a well in the Foz do Rio Amazonas Basin, in Amapá, a representative of the party’s environmental area told Reuters, in what appears to be the first evidence. of fire by the elected government in the environmental area.

The move comes after Petrobras executives reiterated last week that they expect to receive authorization from Ibama to drill in the region later this year, although the Federal Public Ministry, NGOs and communities still see flaws in the licensing process.

The lawsuit would be filed in case the license expires this year, before the beginning of the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

For the entities, Petrobras would not have listened to the communities properly and would have an outdated and incorrect environmental impact study for the activity, which the oil company denies.

The state-owned company embraced the mission of opening the new exploratory frontier in the region after giants such as BP and TotalEnergies gave up assets due to difficulties in obtaining licenses.

The drilling in question is planned for a block that was part of a set of assets in Foz do Amazonas auctioned in 2013 by the then government of Dilma Rousseff.

“The NGOs that protect the environment, and the PT itself, we need to take an action so that this can be stopped as soon as possible. This preliminary study did not listen to the communities”, said the national secretary for the environment and development of the PT, Naiara Torres, in a telephone interview.

“It is dangerous to carry out potentially polluting activities at the mouth because it can harm biodiversity that may only exist in that region. In addition, the entire area of ​​the mouth is considered a protection area”.

The PT representative, indigenous leaders and NGOs consider that Petrobras seeks to obtain the license before the new government takes office, which they see as less flexible than the current one in granting environmental permits.

“I still see that this final ‘sprint’ that it (Petrobras) is giving in these last months of Bolsonaro’s government is to take advantage of this context of very permissive, flexible bodies”, said the spokesman for Climate and Justice of Greenpeace Brazil, Marcelo Laterman.

“But I hope and believe that the new government will be a little more careful, looking at people’s rights and impacts.”

Sought after, IBAMA did not respond to requests for comment.

In the past, Petrobras came to carry out dozens of wells in Foz do Amazonas — rich in ecosystems and with geology still little known —, without commercial discoveries. But more recent discoveries in other neighboring countries with similar geology have revived interest in the region, only in deeper locations.

LICENSING PROCEDURES

Federal prosecutor in Pará Gabriela Tavares Câmara told Reuters that the MPF from Pará and Amapá made recommendations in September to Petrobras and Ibama for communities to be heard in accordance with ILO convention 169 and for the company to carry out a new study of modeling oil dispersion in the event of an accident.

According to the prosecutor, Petrobras is using, together with Ibama, an oil dispersion modeling study carried out by the former operator of the block, BP, in 2015, which had already been questioned by scholars and by the environmental agency itself – the area was left by BP between 2020 and 2021 after difficulties in obtaining authorization.

“Not even in a worst-case scenario, this study predicts that the oil will reach the coast. Scholars say that this does not reflect reality”, said the prosecutor, noting that the study is necessary for the elaboration of the emergency plan to be followed in case there is a oil spill.

Sought by Reuters, Petrobras confirmed that the first modeling necessary for licensing was carried out in 2015 by BP, but stressed that there was a revalidation of the study.

“Petrobras confirms that this study of hydrodynamic modeling and oil dispersion is valid and fully meets its purpose in the environmental study. Even so, the company carried out a new model, whose results validate those obtained previously”, said the oil company by email. .

The MPF also pointed out that the activity will impact four indigenous communities in Amapá and quilombola and riverside communities in Pará.

In this case, Petrobras said that since 2015, when the licensing process began, the then operator BP has held 47 sectoral meetings in 22 municipalities, in addition to three public hearings, in 2017, in the municipalities of Oiapoque (AP), Macapá ( AP) and Belém (PA), with wide participation.

The oil company said it is still holding another 18 meetings in November in the 18 municipalities that make up the activity’s area of ​​influence. At a meeting held on Tuesday, in Oiapoque, Petrobras registered the participation of approximately 500 representatives of local communities.

CONSULTATION TO PEOPLE

Kleber Karipuna, coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) in the region, says that the entity, together with the Council of Chiefs of Indigenous Peoples of the Oiapoque (CCPIO), requested meetings with the oil company, with the presence of representatives of the MPF , to better understand the project and risks, but to no avail.

To Reuters, Petrobras confirmed receipt of the letters requesting the meeting and informed that it is currently in contact with the entity, in order to schedule a meeting with the chiefs on a date starting on November 28, as requested by the entity.

FUP wants to suspend Petrobras’ new business plan until the elected government’s evaluation

The Unique Federation of Oil Workers (FUP) said this Friday (11) that it wants the suspension of Petrobras’ Strategic Plan 2023/2027, scheduled to be announced at the end of the month by the company’s current board, until representatives of the new government position on the topic.

The FUP said that this morning a letter on the matter was sent to the president of Petrobras, Caio Paes de Andrade, and to the company’s advisors.

“We are in a transition of government. Therefore, it is reasonable that the Company’s Strategic Plan 2023-2027 is carried out based on the strategic guidelines and priorities of the representatives of the new government”, highlights the document signed by the general coordinator of the FUP, Deyvid Bacelar, according to a press release.

The text also reinforces that “the Strategic Plan is an important management tool for the company, representing the vision of investment priorities for the coming years”.

In a note, the FUP added that it expects Petrobras to suspend the privatization, signing and closing processes of asset trading during the government transition period.

Sought, Petrobras did not immediately comment on the matter.

With Marta Nogueira and Roberto Samora

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