STJ Postpones Ruling That Could Define Brazil’s Fracking Rules

Overview

• The Superior Tribunal de Justiça paused the IAC 21 proceeding when rapporteur Minister Afrânio Vilela took the case back to revise his draft after hearing oral arguments and colleagues’ observations.
• Vilela told the court he plans to return the case at the next session for repetitive appeals, so no minister has yet voted and the panel has not reached a decision.
• The Ministério Público Federal asks the STJ to suspend the 2013 contracts and future bidding for five Parana Basin blocks until technical-scientific studies, a sedimentary-area environmental assessment (AAAS) and national regulation are completed.
• The ANP, the federal government, Petrobras and industry representatives argued at the hearing that bidding, research and production are separate stages and that a judicial ban on auctions would preempt technical review and exceed judicial authority.
• The dispute began with the ANP’s 2013 12th Round, a 2017 federal-court annulment that invoked the precautionary principle, and a 2019 TRF-3 reversal; the eventual STJ ruling could set a national precedent affecting contract stability, regulatory power and local environmental risk.