Petrobras' animal center in Oiapoque to be ready for inspection in April

By Fabio Teixeira

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A veterinary center run by Brazil's Petrobras in the Amazon region designed to assist animals in the event of an oil spill should be ready for inspection by environmental agency Ibama in April, documents seen by Reuters showed on Monday.

The animal care center in the town of Oiapoque, Amapa state, is one of the main demands from Ibama still not met by Petrobras in order to potentially get approval to drill in an offshore area in the environmentally sensitive Foz do Amazonas region.

Work on the center is set to be done by March-end, and Ibama could schedule a visit to inspect it starting from April 7, said the document dated March 14.

Despite Petrobras' executives having said that the center is the last demand from Ibama, technical staff at the agency have requested last month that Ibama head Rodrigo Agostinho deny the request for drilling, sources told Reuters.

Agostinho is under heavy pressure from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has said last month that Ibama "is a government agency that seems to be against the government" due to its delay in approving the license.

Ibama blocked Petrobras from drilling the well in 2023, but the company filed a new request, which the agency is currently assessing, with no deadline to give a final answer.

Foz do Amazonas, in the so-called Equatorial Margin is Brazil's most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil is developing huge fields.

While the region holds great potential for Petrobras, the firm has faced stiff resistance from local Indigenous communities in Oiapoque and federal prosecutors related to its bid to drill there.

(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; editing by David Evans)