Brazilian oil company Petrobras announced this Friday that it will begin drilling in November on concessions granted to it at the mouth of the Amazon River, the possible exploration of which is drawing protests from environmentalists.
This was stated by the director of exploration and production of the company Fernando Borges at a press conference, which discussed the historic profit received by Brazil’s largest company in the first half of the year.
Borges explained that Petrobras is proceeding satisfactorily in obtaining an appropriate environmental license to operate in the region’s deep waters, and that regulatory approval should be given in October when the company demonstrates in simulations that it poses no hazard. risk.
“The forecast is that we will conduct these exercises in the second half of October so that we can start operations in November, as we are confident that we will find (giant reserves) what has already been found in the equatorial margin by Suriname and Guyana. “, he said.
The so-called equatorial margin includes sea basins in the Atlantic Ocean on either side of the equator, a region that in Brazil includes the mouth of the Amazon River and where Guyana and Suriname have discovered significant deposits.
In Brazil, the equatorial margin includes the area in front of the mouth of the Amazon, the possible exploitation of which has been highly contested due to the existence of an important and fragile coral chain.
Borges said the deep water multinational Exxon, operating in the deep waters of Guyana’s Equatorial Rim, is already producing 340,000 barrels of oil a day from two units in the region and is building two more high-capacity units, Borges said.
Petrobras posted a net profit of 98.89 billion reais (about 19 billion euros) in the first half of this year, the highest in its history.
This record of the Brazilian state-owned company is caused by rising prices for crude oil.
The half-year profit is practically the same as the profit generated by the company during 2021, when it achieved the highest net profit in its history (106.66 billion reais, about 20 billion euros).
Hours before the results were released, Petrobras announced a record dividend distribution at a time when Jair Bolsonaro’s government is pushing for state-owned companies to shore up the public treasury.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
