Brazil environmental agency clears Petrobras to drill additional Foz do Amazonas wells

According to a document seen by us on Friday, Brazil's Ibama environmental agency authorized the state-owned oil company Petrobras drill three new deep wells in the Foz do Amazonas basin.

Petrobras has made a recent oil discovery in an environmentally sensitive region off the coast of Brazil. The new wells will determine whether the?oil is commercially viable.

Last month, President Luiz inacio Lula da Silla celebrated the oil discovery. He then traveled to Amapa, a northern state in the north of Brazil to praise it as "a passport for this country's?future."

Petrobras’ push to explore Foz 'do Amazonas, near the mouth the Amazon River has sparked a debate in 'Lula's Government, pitting the firm's arguments that it must replenish reserves against environmental concerns.

Magda Chabriard, Petrobras' Chief Executive, said that if the discovery is commercially feasible, production could start within seven years.

ExxonMobil's massive oil fields in Guyana are similar geologically to the Foz do Amazonas Basin. The area is part Brazil's Equatorial Margin which?Petrobras deems as its most promising exploration frontier.

Ibama’s decision, which was signed by Jair Schmitt on Thursday, requires Petrobras submit a revised drilling schedule within 30 calendar days after receiving the license.

The document also sets out conditions for?Petrobras's retention of the license. These include updating the environmental risk assessment of the project.

Fluid leaked during the drilling of the?first?well earlier this year. This raised concerns among Indigenous groups about the potential impact that an oil boom would have on a state that is still covered in the pristine Amazon rainforest.

(source: Reuters)