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Lula calls oil near the Amazon River a passport to Brazil's future after Petrobras strikes new find
Experts say commercial drilling could take up to a decade as environmental and Indigenous groups sue to stop exploration.
On Monday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited a Petrobras offshore drilling vessel near the Amazon River, where the company detected hydrocarbons about 180 kilometers off the coast of Amapa.
The Equatorial Margin holds significant oil and natural gas reserves, with preliminary estimates suggesting the basin could contain up to 10 billion barrels of oil, valued at about $720 billion.
Petrobras President Magda Chambriard said the company must conduct further research to determine how much oil the area contains, while Lula described a sample of crude as "blessed."
Lula faces a tight reelection campaign in October, and political scientist Breno Rodrigues de Messias Leite said the trip sends an important message to voters in northern Brazil.
While Lula called drilling a "passport to the country's future," environmental and Indigenous groups have sued to halt exploration, arguing the licensing process failed to properly consult traditional communities.