Overview

• MPF recommended that Ibama deny the operational license for block FZA-M-59 until Petrobras demonstrates competence in a new simulation.
• Ibama’s licensing directorate had approved the pre-operational drill and advised granting the license with conditions, including adjustments and a later fauna exercise.
• A technical review cited inconsistencies in the August exercise, including deviations from the approved plan, nighttime operations and two incidents during navigation.
• Ibama said it is assessing Petrobras’s September 26 response and has not set a date for a final decision, which will be made by president Rodrigo Agostinho.
• Petrobras has kept the NS-42 rig on standby at the site since August 18, incurring an estimated R$180 million in costs at roughly R$4 million per day, according to FUP and a company source.