Ibama, Brazil's Ibama, seeks information on Petrobras Amazon project and rejects suggestions to kill it

Documents seen by on Tuesday showed that the head of Brazil's environment agency Ibama decided not to reject a Petrobras request to drill near Amazon River, even though experts at the agency recommended the request be rejected.

According to regulatory documents, Ibama's Rodrigo Agostinho asked Petrobras instead for more details regarding Petrobras’ requested offshore drilling licence for the Foz de Amazonas region off the coast Amapa state.

Ibama blocked Petrobras last year from drilling the well. The company has now filed a second request which is being assessed by the agency. Ibama does not have a deadline for judging the appeal.

This decision was in direct contradiction to a report by Ibama’s technical department, as seen in another document. The report recommended Agostinho shut the case, because Petrobras’ appeal did not contain "sufficient elements" that would allow Ibama to revisit its original decision.

Petrobras believes that this area, part of Brazil's Equatorial Margin is the most promising frontier for oil and natural gas exploration. The decision to drill has sparked controversy because of the area's biodiversity and its proximity to the Amazon Rainforest.

Ibama’s technical area also argued Petrobras’ request did not represent a “viable alternative” to “satisfactorily reduce the loss of biodiversity in case of an oil spill incident."

Agostinho, however, said that Petrobras had shown progress, allowing the environmental agency continue to analyze and the talks between Ibama, and Petrobras, to continue.

Petrobras didn't immediately respond to a comment request sent outside regular business hours. Reporting by Marta Nogueira, Rio de Janeiro. Writing by Andre Romani. Editing by Brendan O'Boyle.

(source: Reuters)