By Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Brazilian oil regulator ANP has told Petrobras that it cannot resume offshore drilling in the Foz do Amazonas basin until it provides information on a leak of synthetic fluid in the environmentally sensitive region, the agency said on Thursday.
The ANP decision was recorded in documents signed on Wednesday and seen earlier by Reuters.
ANP said in a statement to Reuters that Petrobras must report the causes of the leak and mitigation measures. Foz do Amazonas is the large delta where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northern Brazil.
Petrobras did not immediately reply to a request for comment but has previously said it had contained the leak and that the fluid is biodegradable, posing no harm to the environment or to people.
Petrobras spent years trying to obtain a license to drill in the region, considered to be its most promising oil frontier because it shares geology with nearby Guyana where ExxonMobil is developing huge fields.
The leak has led to an outcry by activists and local Indigenous organizations, who have for years warned of the impact oil exploration could have on the region’s marine and coastal ecosystems.
During a Wednesday meeting with ANP officials, Petrobras said it did not know what caused the accident, the documents seen by Reuters showed.
The documents also showed the leak was larger than initially reported – 18 cubic meters (23.54 cubic yards), instead of 15.
The oil regulator plans to inspect the drilling rig in February, a source close to the matter told Reuters, adding that drilling could resume before then. The regulator declined to comment on plans to inspect the site.
The drilling started in October and was expected to last around five months. The well is the first of seven that Petrobras plans to drill in the region.
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
