Petrobras cleared to drill exploratory well offshore Brazil’s Amazon region

Brazilian environmental agency Ibama has authorized Petrobras to drill an exploration well on the offshore Equatorial Margin.

The environmental license covers drilling in deepwater Block FZA-M-059 offshore Amapá, situated 500 km from the mouth of the Amazon River and 175 km from the coast.

Petrobras said the rig was at the well site and expected to start the five-month drilling operation straightaway. The company will use the campaign to acquire geological data and determine whether oil and gas is present in commercial volumes.

Petrobras added that it had complied with all of Ibama’s requirements and the environmental licensing process.

In August, as a final stage of evaluation, the company performed an onsite pre-operational assessment, which allowed Ibama to verify the effectiveness of the emergency response plan.