Brazil's oil regulator authorizes Petrobras to resume Foz do Amazonas drilling

A document obtained by?showed that Brazil's oil regulator ANP had?authorized the?state-run Petrobras on Wednesday to resume drilling operations in the environmentally sensitive Foz do Amazonas area.

The drilling was halted by the?ANP in early December after a synthetic liquid leaked from auxiliary lines that connected Petrobras' drill rig with a planned well located off the coast of Brazil’s?Amazonian State of?Amapa.

The spill sparked outrage from local Indigenous groups and activists who had warned for years about the potential impact of oil exploration on the marine and coastal ecosystems in the region.

Petrobras didn't immediately respond to a comment request.

Petrobras spent years trying to get a drilling license in this'region', which is considered 'its most promising oil frontier because of its shared geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil has vast oil fields being explored. Reporting by Fabio Téixeira and Rodrigo Viga Gaier. Editing by Inigo A. Alexander and Nia W. Williams.

(source: Reuters)