🛢️ Amazon oil rush?

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Drilling permit bait-and-switch would spark Amazon oil rush

Since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to Brazil’s presidency on January 1, 2023, the biggest environmental controversy concerning his government has been linked to a patch of the Atlantic Ocean, about half the size of New York City, with waters about 2,400 to 3,400 meters (8,000 to 11,000 feet) deep.

FZA-M-59, best known as Block 59, is an oil exploration area located some 175 kilometers (109 miles) off Brazil’s northern coast and 500km from the mouth of the Amazon River.

A part of the Equatorial Margin, one of the world’s most promising new oil frontiers, block 59 still does not have the proper environmental licensing for oil exploration to get underway, despite being auctioned off by Brazil’s National Oil Agency (ANP) all the way back in 2011.

This can be explained by the inherent risks of drilling in such an environmentally sensitive area. Natalie Unterstell, founder of climate policy think tank Instituto Talanoa, called going ahead with the Block 59 drilling plans a “high-stakes gamble with nature,” citing the area’s strong currents, shifting sediments and extreme weather conditions, as well as the presence of “unique ecosystems scientists are only beginning to grasp.”

The controversy concerning the block concerns the Lula government’s support and pressure for the Block 59 licensing process to be approved and concluded, despite the ongoing climate emergency and the administration’s attempt to place itself as a world leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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