Petrobras will ask for reconsideration of license in Foz do Amazonas

Petrobras informed, this Wednesday (24), that it will make a request to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) to reconsider the rejection of the environmental license for drilling a well at the mouth of the Amazon River. The document should be filed later this week, according to the state-owned company.

The company alleges that it met all the requirements set forth in the legislation for drilling the exploratory well in block FZ-M-059, located off the coast of Amapá, in deep waters. According to Petrobras, all the technical requirements demanded by Ibama were also complied with.

“The emergency response structure proposed by the company is the largest in the country. Even so, Petrobras is ready to meet additional demands that may remain”, informs the note released by the company.

The company’s request for reconsideration will have the commitment to expand the fauna stabilization base in the municipality of Oiapoque, in the state of Amapá and foresees its action together with the Fauna Rehabilitation and Depetrolization Center (CRD), which Petrobras maintains in Bethlehem.

“Thus, in the remote possibility of an accident with a leak, assistance to the fauna can be carried out in both locations. The distance between the Center of Belém and the drilling site was one of the issues highlighted by the environmental agency in its assessment of the licensing application”, says the note.

Petrobras will reinforce the commitments previously assumed to maintain more than 100 professionals dedicated to animal protection, offer two vessels on standby alongside the rig to act in emergency response and two other vessels to assist fauna.

According to the company, these last vessels will have veterinary professionals and will be equipped with air-conditioned containers and equipment for stabilizing animals.

There will also be, according to Petrobras, five aircraft that can be used for monitoring and rescue, in addition to fauna reception units. The drilling is expected to last five months.

“The company reiterates that it has made itself available to receive and respond to all new requests from Ibama. If the license is denied, the rig and the other resources mobilized in the region of block FZA-M-59 will be directed to the company’s activities in the basins of the Southeast Region”, informs the company, through the note.

Block

The block, located in the Foz do Amazonas Basin (hence the acronym FZA in the name), was acquired by Petrobras in the 11th Bidding Round of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), in May 2013.

According to the company, the granting process for the block was supported by opinions from a working group that included Ibama, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the Ministry of the Environment.

In the note, the state-owned oil company reported that the working group “considered that block FZA-M-59 was able to be offered and licensed, which leads to the conclusion that the challenges indicated were all technically surmountable”.

“Recognized for its technical capacity and for the rigor in the safety of its operations, having never registered an oil leak in drilling operations, Petrobras is committed to adopting the best practices in exploration and production activities on the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, in a vanguard model technology that exceeds all projects already carried out by the company, in line with the company’s new guidelines, with a focus on people and priority for sustainability”, says the note.