The Brazilian public oil company Petrobras announced on Monday that it had received an exploratory drilling permit for oil deposits in a marine area off the Amazon, a plan strongly denounced by environmentalists and confirmed a few weeks before COP30 in Brazil.

The project was promoted by Brazil’s center-left president Luis Inacio Lula da Silvawhich will host the UN climate summit in November in the city Belem of the Amazon.

For its critics, the oil project is a symbol of contradictions of President Lula, who states that he wishes – at the same time – to be at the forefront of efforts preventing climate change and defending the rainforest of the Amazon.

Exploratory drilling is expected to begin “immediately” and will have a “duration of five months” by utilizing equipment already on site, the oil industry giant explained in a statement.

“Petrobras satisfied all the conditions set by IBAMA (s.s. the public institute of environment and renewable natural resources)fully complying with the environmental licensing process”Petrobras assured.

The permit specifically concerns exploration of a potential deposit “in deep waters, 500 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon and 175 kilometers from the coast.”

It is located in a vast sea area known as Margem Equatorial (“Equatorial margin”), where the neighboring Guyana has announced the discovery of huge oil deposits.

IBAMA noted for its part that it issued the license “after a rigorous process.”

“This approval sabotages COP30 and goes against the climate leadership that President Lula claims on the international stage”commented the collective emphatically Climate Observatory (“Climate Observatory”).

This alliance of non-governmental organizations made it clear that its intention is to “appeal to justice” denouncing them “illegalities” and “technical omissions” in the licensing process, as part of an effort with a purpose “cancelled” the oil project.

“New Frontier”

Brazil ranks eighth in the world in terms of oil productionwhich amounted to 3.4 million barrels per day in 2024. However, half of the energy it consumes comes from renewable sources.

“The Ecuadorian Margin represents the future of our energy sovereignty. We defend an exploration with full environmental responsibility, respecting international standards”reported via X o Alejandro Silveirathe Brazilian Minister of Energy.

“Through this exploration, the company seeks to gather more geological information and assess the presence of oil and gas in the area at scale (viz. sustainable from a perspective) economic. There will be no oil production at this stage”Petrobras clarified in its announcement.

“We hope to secure excellent results and prove the existence of oil in the Brazilian part of this new global energy frontier”according to the same press release, the president of the company, Magda Sabriahd, said.

President Lula argues that oil revenues will finance the energy transition.

But for him Ilan ZugmanLatin America director of the NGO 350.org, oil exploration off the Amazon is “historical error”.

“We urgently need a fair energy transition plan, based on renewable energy sources, that respects indigenous peoples” and other traditional communities, he added.

IBAMA had denied Petrobras an exploratory drilling permit in 2023, judging that the company had not presented the necessary guarantees to protect marine life in the event of an oil spill.

The company appealed to have this decision reviewed, and pressure has been increased by President Lula, who declared a few months ago that IBAMA is a public body that acts as if it “against the government”.

In February, an IBAMA technical opinion consulted by AFP suggested that “environmental licensing is rejected” emphasizing the danger “massive loss of biodiversity in a particularly sensitive marine environment”.

The approval of the license followed pre-operational tests by Petrobras in August to show that it has the ability to respond early in the event of an oil spill.