Petrobras Demands Decision from Ibama by May 15 to Start Mobilization of Drillship in the Equatorial Margin Amid Government Impasses over the Project
Petrobras sent a new letter to the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, to request the necessary authorization for oil exploration in the Equatorial Margin. According to CNN Brasil, the official letter was sent on Wednesday (30) and requests permission to mobilize a drillship to the region.
The company set a deadline of May 15 to receive a response from the environmental agency. The state-owned company’s claim is that it needs to begin operational preparations as soon as possible.
The initiative represents another step in the company’s effort to make the project viable, which has been the target of divergences within the federal government.
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Daniele Lomba Zaneti Puelker, general manager of Licensing and Environment at Petrobras, stated that the state-owned company has already met the requirements related to the cleaning of the drill’s hull. This step is one of the conditions outlined in a project previously approved by Ibama.
Additionally, Petrobras reiterated a previous request for an inspection to be carried out at a wildlife stabilization unit in the municipality of Oiapoque, in Amapá. The structure was completed in March and, according to the company, is only awaiting technical inspection for the licensing process to continue.
Exploration of the Equatorial Margin has sparked disputes within the Executive branch. While President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and Petrobras itself advocate for the project’s approval, Ibama and the Ministry of the Environment maintain a contrary position, leading to impasses.
Ibama informed the news outlet that, by Wednesday night (30), Petrobras’s new letter had not yet been officially received by the president’s office of the institute.
With information from Brasil 247.

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