The Brazilian government has approved a licence for Petrobras to begin drilling for oil near the mouth of the Amazon rainforest, sparking cries of hypocrisy from environmental campaigners.
On Monday, the administration led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave the state-owned oil firm the go-ahead to begin exploratory works in deep waters off Amapá, 500km from the mouth of the Amazon River and 175km from the coast.
The drill rig is already at the well site, and drilling is expected to start immediately and last for around five months. Through this exploratory activity, the company aims to gather additional geological data and assess whether there is oil and gas in the area at an economic scale – there will be no oil production at this stage.
With the Brazilian city of Belém gearing up to play host to the COP30 climate conference next month, Brazil’s Climate Observatory think tank said the latest approval for Petrobras represents an “act of sabotage” against the aims of the event.
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