SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – A key aide to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday that there was no contradiction in defending an ecological transition and new oil exploration fronts, in remarks later echoed by the head of oil giant Petrobras PETR4.SA.
The comments by Lula’s chief of staff, Rui Costa, come as state-run Petrobras seeks clearance to drill a well at the mouth of the Amazon River, a controversial topic dividing the leftist leader’s own coalition.
“There is no contradiction,” Costa said in a radio interview. “It’s in the name – it is an ecological and energy transition.”
Last week, Amazon rainforest nations faced divisions over proposals to block new oil drilling as they met for the first time in 14 years in Brazil.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro pushed Lula to block all new oil development in the region, as Brazil weighs whether to develop the potentially huge offshore oil find on the coast of northern Amapa state.
Lula has staked his international reputation on reversing environmental back-sliding under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, when Amazon deforestation soared.
Yet he is under pressure to deliver much-needed growth to poor, underdeveloped regions in the north and northeast, and wants Petrobras to be an engine of that growth.
“We are going to build a sustainable, renewable energy matrix, but it’s obvious that we need to fund that transition process,” Costa said.
Later on Wednesday, Petrobras Chief Executive Jean Paul Prates defended the company’s position in favour of drilling and emphasized its role in the energy transition by investing in renewable projects such as offshore wind farms.
“We must produce oil to make money and pay for the energy transition,” Prates told a senate committee hearing.
Environmental protection agency Ibama has previously rejected Petrobras’ request to drill the well at the mouth of the Amazon, citing discrepancies in environmental studies. However, the oil giant has appealed the decision.
