Expansion of Oil Exploration by ANP Days Before COP30 Raises Concerns About Socio-Environmental Risks Across Brazil

Written by Rannyson Moura

Published on 09/10/2025 at 11:37

A Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP) liberou 275 novos blocos de exploração de petróleo e gás natural, elevando para 451 o total de áreas disponíveis no país. Decisão provoca alerta sobre impactos ambientais e sociais às vésperas da COP30.

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The National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) Released 275 New Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Blocks, Raising the Total Available Areas in the Country to 451. Decision Raises Concerns About Environmental and Social Impacts Ahead of COP30.

With just a few months until COP30, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) authorized the inclusion of 275 new exploratory blocks and five areas with marginal accumulations in the new round of the Permanent Offering of Concession (OPC), as reported this Thursday, the 9th. The decision raises the total number of areas available for oil and natural gas exploration in national territory to 451.

The measure, although considered strategic for the expansion of the oil industry, has raised concerns among socio-environmental organizations. The International Institute Arayara warned of environmental, social, and legal risks that could compromise traditional communities and protected areas.

Institutions Point Out Irregularities and Possible Violations of Rights

According to a technical study prepared by the Geosciences team at Arayara, the new blocks have direct and indirect overlaps with indigenous lands, quilombola territories, Conservation Units (UCs), and rural settlements. The affected areas encompass states such as Maranhão, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rondônia, and Roraima.

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Oil Blocks Threaten Communities and Protected Areas

In Rondônia, the block PRC-T-54 directly impacts the Cassupá and Salamãi Indigenous Land, a restricted area already recognized by environmental agencies. In Roraima, the blocks TCT-T-01 and TCT-T-02 are located near the Indigenous Lands of Bom Jesus, Canauanim, Jabuti, São Marcos, and Serra da Moça, increasing the risk of conflicts and environmental degradation.

In Maranhão, blocks such as PN-T-29, PN-T-65, PN-T-84, PN-T-101, and PN-T-114 overlap more than 10,000 hectares of indigenous lands, including Caru, Rio Pindaré, Cana Brava/Guajajara, and Bacurizinho. In Bahia and Maranhão, other blocks — including TUC-T-176, PN-T-14, PN-T-32, and PN-T-49 — intercept recognized quilombola territories, such as Tapera Melão, Juçaral/Santa Helena, and Santo Antônio dos Pretos, totaling 70,000 hectares at direct risk.

Rural Settlements and Conservation Units Are Also in the Risk Area

The Arayara study also identified 361 affected rural settlements, home to approximately 31,000 families. In 96 of these cases, the areas exceed the limit of 2,500 hectares defined by Normative Instruction No. 112/2021 of INCRA, which would require prior authorization from the National Congress before exploration.

Furthermore, exploration blocks in Minas Gerais and Rondônia overlap with Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs) and Environmental Protection Areas (APAs). This overlap contravenes current regulations, such as Interministerial Ordinance No. 1/2022 and Joint Technical Note No. 8/2024, which mandate the mandatory exclusion of protected areas and traditional communities from public oil offering rounds.

Experts Call for More Transparency and Review of Offered Blocks

The geosciences manager at Arayara, George Mendes, highlighted that the ANP’s decision represents a setback in sustainability policies. According to him, “the expansion of the fossil frontier advances over legally protected territories and traditional communities, compromising the achievement of the climate goals set by Brazil.”

For industry experts, the approval of new oil exploration blocks at this sensitive moment — with COP30 about to begin in Belém (PA) — reignites the debate about the balance between economic development and environmental preservation. The international pressure for a faster and cleaner energy transition contrasts with the expansion of fossil frontiers within the national territory.

Expansion of Oil Exploration by ANP Days Before COP30 Raises Concerns About Socio-Environmental Risks Across Brazil

The National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) Released 275 New Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Blocks, Raising the Total Available Areas in the Country to 451. Decision Raises Concerns About Environmental and Social Impacts Ahead of COP30.

Institutions Point Out Irregularities and Possible Violations of Rights

Oil Blocks Threaten Communities and Protected Areas

Rural Settlements and Conservation Units Are Also in the Risk Area

Experts Call for More Transparency and Review of Offered Blocks

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Expansion of Oil Exploration by ANP Days Before COP30 Raises Concerns About Socio-Environmental Risks Across Brazil

The National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) Released 275 New Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Blocks, Raising the Total Available Areas in the Country to 451. Decision Raises Concerns About Environmental and Social Impacts Ahead of COP30.

Institutions Point Out Irregularities and Possible Violations of Rights

Oil Blocks Threaten Communities and Protected Areas

Rural Settlements and Conservation Units Are Also in the Risk Area

Experts Call for More Transparency and Review of Offered Blocks

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Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Spain installs two giant pipelines 2.2 km off the coast to draw water from the Mediterranean and supply a megafacility capable of producing 200 million liters of drinking water per day.

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