Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras' could start oil and gas production in the Foz do Amazonas basin within seven years if large reserves are confirmed, the company's Chief Executive Magda Chambriard told Reuters on Tuesday.
Brazil's environmental agency Ibama on Monday greenlit Petrobras to drill an exploratory well in Foz do Amazonas, near the mouth of the Amazon River. The drilling should last around five months.
"We could delineate the reservoir in about two years and, if it's good enough, we'll be producing in seven or eight years," Chambriard said in an interview.
If this deadline is met, production should start as Petrobras' output at Brazil's pre-salt region starts to decline, offsetting the loss, said Chambriard.
The area to be drilled, in deep waters off the shore of the Amazonian state of Amapa, is considered Petrobras' most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where ExxonMobil is developing huge fields.
The company plans to drill six additional wells in the environmentally sensitive region, but obtaining a license for them should be easier than for the first one, said Chambriard, as most environmental requirements are already met.
In 2023, Ibama denied Petrobras a request to drill there, which the company immediately appealed, stoking divisions within Brazil's government between environmental advocates and allies pushing for oil and gas development in the region.
To finally meet Ibama's requirements, Petrobras invested millions of reais to improve the firm's emergency response in case of a spill.
(Reuters - Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama)