The Brazilian government, through the environmental regulator IBAMA, has granted Petrobras a license for exploratory oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River. Despite environmental and Indigenous concerns, the Brazilian government cited that the potential for energy sovereignty.
The license was granted to Petrobas, the state-run oil company, and is an exploratory well that will not produce oil approximately 175 kilometers offshore from the state of Amapá because the area is believed to be rich in oil and gas, sharing geological similarities with nearby Guyana.
“Brazil is a country that has oil. And possibly we have oil in the Equatorial Margin, and we are making surveys,” Lula da Silva, South American nation’s President, said. “We’re following the law strictly.”
Arguments in favor of the license view the decision is crucial for the country’s energy security and potential oil reserves. IBAMA said that discussions with Petrobras led to “meaningful improvement” in the project’s emergency response structure.
“I am totally in favour of a world one day that will not need any more fossil fuels, but this moment has not come yet,” da Silva said. “I want to know [of] any country on the planet that is prepared to have an energy transition and can give up fossil fuels.”
Opponents of the license, including 350.org, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of environmental and Indigenous groups, who claim the license has technical flaws and failed to properly assess potential consequences.
Their arguments against the license include:
Environmental risks: Critics fear oil spills could contaminate the Amazon River and nearby sensitive ecosystems, including a coral reef.
Community impact: Concerns have been raised about the negative impact on local fishing communities and their livelihoods.
Inconsistency with climate goals: Some argue the decision contradicts climate goals and undermines Brazil’s role in upcoming climate talks.
“Authorizing new oil licenses in the Amazon is not just a historic mistake—it’s doubling down on a model that has already failed,” Ilan Zugman, Latin America and Caribbean Director at 350.org, said. “The history of oil in Brazil shows this clearly: huge profits for a few, and inequality, destruction, and violence for local populations. Brazil must take real climate leadership and break the cycle of extraction that has led us to the current climate crisis. We urgently need a just energy transition plan, based on renewables, that respects Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside peoples and guarantees them a leading role in decisions about climate and energy—including at COP30.”
While 350.org urges Brazil to choose a different path: a future of clean energy, Petrobras said it was committed to ensuring the country’s “energy security and the resources needed for a just energy transition.”
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