SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras has asked to resume a licensing process for drilling a controversial well near the mouth of the Amazon river, the company’s chief executive said late on Thursday.
CEO Jean Paul Prates’ statement regarding the well known as Morpho 1-APS-57, inside the mouth of the Amazon river basin, comes after the company said it would appeal environmental agency Ibama’s decistion to block it from drilling wells in the area.
Petrobras had said earlier the appeal would include additional measures to protect the environment in the northern state of Amapa, the closest to the offshore area it intends to drill.
Ibama’s decision last week to block the drilling caused a split within President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s camp between those who want to prioritize protecting the environment and those who want to use Petrobras to drive much-needed growth.
(Reporting by Peter Frontini and Andre Romani; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sarah Morland)
