Brazil sees intensifying debates on oil exploration in the Equatorial Margin

Debates about exploring for oil in Brazil's geologically promising but environmentally fragile Equatorial Margin are again causing public clashes between federal authorities.

On one side is the environment ministry (MMA), alongside local and international environmental organizations, who are concerned about ecological impacts, and on the other are the mines and energy ministry (MME), federal oil company Petrobras and the industry, claiming that Brazil must open new frontiers for energy security reasons. 

On Tuesday, the general coordinator of climate change at the MMA, Thiago Longo Menezes, said that a decision regarding exploring the area should not be made before the COP30 climate conference in November 2025, which will be held in Pará state. 

“It's not just a discussion in Brazil, it's a discussion all over the world about what we want from the energy transition. There shouldn't be a decision on the Equatorial Margin until then,” Menezes told journalists during an event hosted by local petroleum association IBP in Rio de Janeiro.

Petrobras previously drilled in the Potiguar basin, one of the five areas in the Equatorial Margin in the north. 

But an environmental license from environmental regulator Ibama is still lacking to be able to drill in the Foz do Amazonas basin, which is regarded as the most promising one. 

In her first comments to the media as Petrobras' new CEO, Magda Chambriard defended exploration in new areas, including off Amapá state, where the Foz do Amazonas basin is located. 

"The environment ministry needs to be more clear about the need for Brazil to explore the Equatorial Margin and drill these wells, even to lead the [energy] transition," Chambriard said at a press conference on Monday.

The expectation is that the matter will generate tensions between Chambriard and environment minister Marina Silva.

On Monday, mines and energy minister Alexandre Silveira said that, while the country is discussing oil exploration in the Equatorial Margin, Guyana is extracting oil in a region that should be explored by Brazil.

"Our brothers from Guyana are sucking on Brazil's riches through a straw. They are exploring across the border, in a block acquired under Dilma [Rousseff’s] government. We cannot disrespect contracts. It is the right of the Brazilian people to know their riches," he told journalists. 

During the IBP event, the director of corporate management at Brazil’s exports promotion agency Apex, Floriano Pesaro, highlighted that the country’s trade promotion and investment attraction policy considers the “diversity of energy sources” and encourages decarbonization initiatives through innovation and technology, including from the oil and gas sector.

“Another important vector is to foster opportunities in the north and northeast regions in line with the need for regional development and energy alternatives in these locations. One of the alternatives in these regions is the exploration of oil and gas reserves in the Equatorial Margin,” he said. 

Greenpeace has emerged as a fierce international opponent to oil exploration in the Foz do Amazonas basin. According to the NGO, exploration in the region can have a devastating effect on coral reefs, which are essential for the health of the waters and local communities.

“When an oil company begins activities in an area, with it comes the risk of accidental spills that directly threaten the lives of animal and plant species. When it comes to the Foz do Amazonas, where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean, the situation is even more delicate as we are talking about a gigantic, unique and still unknown biodiversity,” a Greenpeace member wrote on the organization’s local website last January.