🛢️ Crude reality

OIL & GAS

Brazil moves closer to drilling at mouth of Amazon River

Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant Petrobras cleared another important regulatory hurdle in its push to drill for oil near the mouth of the Amazon River — a region that is highly ecologically sensitive. Environmental protection agency Ibama approved the framework of the company’s animal protection and response plan in the case of an oil spill, paving the way for a final simulation test that could result in full drilling approval within weeks.

The drilling would take place in Block 59, over 100 miles off the coast of Amapá state and more than 300 miles from the Amazon River's mouth. The block lies within the so-called Equatorial Margin — a potentially massive offshore oil frontier that Rystad Energy, a business intelligence firm, believes could hold 5 billion barrels of oil. 

Petrobras plans to invest up to USD 3.1 billion in exploration in the Equatorial Margin by 2028 — with a goal of drilling 16 wells in the next five years.

The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration argues that such fossil fuel reserves are essential to fund Brazil’s energy transition, even as it touts its environmental credentials ahead of hosting the COP30 climate summit in 2025.

Don’t take this newsletter for granted

We’re here for readers who want to truly understand Brazil and Latin America — a region too often ignored or misrepresented by the international media.

Since 2017, our reporting has been powered by paid subscribers. They’re the reason we can keep a full-time team of 10 journalists across Brazil and Argentina, delivering sharp, independent coverage every day.

If you value our work, subscribing is the best way to keep it going — and growing.

Our annual plan goes for just USD 0.52 a day — but the value you'll get back from it is truly immeasurable. So… what’s stopping you from joining right now?

Get smarter on Brazil and Latin America

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

The full picture. The sharpest takes. All in your inbox, every day:

• • 🏆 Award-winning journalism, trusted worldwide
• • 📊 Exclusive charts and analyses
• • 🗃️ Archive access
• • 💬 Commenting