Petrobras has passed an emergency response test required by environmental regulators in the Foz do Amazonas basin on Wednesday, documents seen by Reuters showed, marking a victory for the state-run oil firm in its aim to drill in the environmentally sensitive region.
In a statement, Petrobras said it expects to receive a license to drill "shortly."
The test, carried out in August, is expected to be the last step before Brazilian environmental agency Ibama decides whether to grant a drilling license, which the company has sought for years.
In its decision, Ibama asked for adjustments to the emergency response plan before completing the licensing process, according to the documents.
Petrobras confirmed it received Ibama's approval and said it would revise the plan in accordance with the observations made by the agency and resubmit the document by September 26.
The exercise, meant to measure Petrobras' response in case of an oil spill, involved more than 400 people, as well as logistical resources such as large vessels, helicopters, and a drilling rig positioned at the site where the well is to be drilled.
Minutes of a meeting held by Ibama staffers show that there was initially no consensus on whether Petrobras passed the test. But the agency's final report approved the test, listing "points for attention and improvement."
"Yes, for what matters, it was approved," a source close to the decision-making process at Ibama told Reuters.
The area near the mouth of the Amazon is considered Petrobras' most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil is developing huge fields. The oil industry believes there is significant potential for the discovery of large oil and gas reserves in the region, part of Brazil's so-called Equatorial Margin.
In a June oil block auction, two consortia involving Petrobras and Exxon Mobil secured 10 blocks in the region, while a Chevron-led consortium, including China's state-owned CNPC, acquired nine blocks.
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.
For Petrobras, the emergency response test was the final stage of the environmental licensing process. The head of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, still needs to make a final decision on whether to grant or deny the license, and has no deadline to do so.
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Kylie Madry, Deepa Babington and Leslie Adler)