President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Thursday (3rd) that his government has not ruled out oil prospecting and exploration in the region of the mouth of the Amazon River, adding that the decision by Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and of Natural Resources) is not definitive. The president added that he wants to "keep dreaming" of oil exploration in the region, but that his government will be very careful.
Lula gave an interview to radio stations in the Amazon region. At one point, he was asked by a journalist from the state of Amapá if he could continue dreaming of oil exploration off the coast of Amapá or if the decision was final. "I'm going to tell you that you can keep dreaming and I want to keep dreaming too. We had Petrobras with a platform prepared to carry out research in this region. There was an Ibama study that said it was not possible, but this Ibama study is not definitive, because they point to technical flaws that Petrobras has the right to correct. We are discussing this," the president said in the interview.
The representative defended research in the region, to find out whether or not there is oil in the region of the mouth of the Amazon River. And he said that a decision would then have to be made by his government, taking into account ways to avoid environmental disasters.
Translated by Cassy Dias