Lula calls Amazon drilling ‘passport to the country’s future’
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva endorsed offshore oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River on Monday, calling drilling in Brazil’s northern and northeastern coastal regions “a passport to the country’s future.” Lula spoke at an official event in the municipality of Oiapoque in Amapa state after visiting a Petrobras offshore drilling vessel.
His comments followed Petrobras’s announcement on Friday that the company had detected hydrocarbons during exploratory drilling about 180 kilometers (112 miles) off the Amapa coast, in a coastal region Brazil calls the Equatorial Margin, according to a report by The Associated Press.
Exploratory drilling in the basin began in October and has prompted legal challenges. Environmental and Indigenous groups have sued the Brazilian government and Petrobras to halt the exploration, arguing that the licensing process failed to properly consult traditional communities, underestimated spill risks, and did not adequately assess climate impacts. Petrobras has long argued that it has never caused spills in its drillings.
Lula defended the drilling push as consistent with Brazil’s climate commitments. “When I say ‘passport,’” Lula said, “I’m not denying my commitment to the fight for a day when we no longer need fossil fuels, because Brazil will continue to be the king of biofuel innovation and will remain a major player in renewable energy.”
The Equatorial Margin refers to the coastal regions near the Amazon River mouth in northern and northeastern Brazil. Petrobras, Brazil’s majority state-owned corporation, is conducting the exploratory drilling.
Lula’s endorsement arrives ahead of an October presidential election that is expected to be closely contested. He is seeking a fourth term as president.