Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) said it will impose conditions before authorizing state-owned oil company Petrobras to resume drilling a controversial offshore well near the mouth of the Amazon River, after operations were suspended on Sunday due to a leak of fluid from company equipment.
In a statement, the regulator said Petrobras informed it of the suspension on Sunday following the incident, and that the agency will require the company to explain the causes of the accident before allowing drilling to resume.
“The ANP will establish conditions for Petrobras to resume drilling only after determining the immediate causes of the incident and adopting the appropriate mitigation measures,” the regulator said.
The leak occurred in one of the auxiliary pieces of equipment on the drilling rig, which was carrying out a pioneer well in a very deepwater region. This was a significant milestone for Petrobras, as it had received authorization to conduct exploration after waiting several years for an environmental license.
The company obtained the license in October for its first well in the area, located in the Atlantic Ocean about 175 kilometers off Brazil’s northern coast and roughly 500 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon River, according to its estimates.
The granting of the license ended a nearly five-year-long, highly controversial process that was opposed by environmental organizations, which consider the area “extremely sensitive” due to its inclusion of environmental reserves, Indigenous territories, mangroves, coral reefs, and diverse marine life, including endangered species.
According to the ANP, Petrobras said the accident was caused by a failure in the connection of one of the pieces of equipment, adding that it immediately isolated the lines where the leak occurred and removed the equipment from the water to fix the problem.
The oil company also said the spill involved a drilling fluid that meets permitted toxicity requirements and is biodegradable, and therefore does not cause harm to the environment or to people.
The ANP also said it has held meetings with representatives of the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) to discuss the incident and its consequences.
The spill has reignited protests by environmental and Indigenous groups opposed to oil exploration off Brazil’s Amazon coastline.
