Brazil gets access to new offshore area in “Blue Amazon”

The United Nations agency in charge of evaluating maritime boundary demarcations has approved the expansion of Brazil’s oceanic border from its northern coastline.

The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has recognized a new area of the Atlantic Ocean’s seabed and subsoil as belonging to Brazil, covering dimensions equivalent to the size of Germany. Previously, this region was not under any country’s jurisdiction. Known as the Equatorial Margin, the area spans 360,000 square kilometers. Despite the identical name, the new area is not the same where Petrobras is seeking environmental authorization for oil and gas exploration.

The area of interest for the company lies within the recognized 200-nautical-mile maritime boundary. The newly approved area extends beyond, reaching up to 350 nautical miles from the coasts of Amapá and Pará at some points. The decision was published this Wednesday (March 26) on the UN commission’s website.

Brazil began its bid for wider maritime boundaries in 2004, initially facing rejection. In 2007, the Navy submitted a revised proposal involving marine expeditions, specialized software, and teams of geophysicists, geologists, and other experts from both the Navy and state-owned oil giant Petrobras. The Brazilian Navy refers to the country’s jurisdictional waters and continental shelf as “Amazônia Azul” (Blue Amazon) for its challenges and potentials in biodiversity and geopolitical terms.

Petrobras has been the main funder of the research carried out by the Leplac Project (Continental Shelf Survey), which brings together professionals from the Navy and the oil company.

“Brazil now has the right to exploit marine resources in an area equivalent to Germany’s territory,” said Vice Admiral Marco Antônio Linhares Soares, director of Hydrography and Navigation of the Navy. Polymetallic nodules, along with gas and oil, may be found within this new maritime frontier, he noted. “The area of the Equatorial Margin in which Petrobras is currently interested is within the 200-mile limit, but there could be an oil block that extends beyond this range and falls within this new area, which now only the Brazilian state has the right to explore,” he stated.

“We recognize the importance of expanding the maritime area for Brazil,” said Sylvia Anjos, Petrobras’s director of exploration and production, in a company statement. “Besides strengthening the country’s sovereignty, it allows access to the resources present there. The partnership between Petrobras and the Navy has long-standing roots, and this is yet another historic result of this joint effort,” she added.

With support from President Lula, Petrobras is seeking licenses from environmental regulator IBAMA to begin exploring oil fields in the Equatorial Margin (within the 200-mile limit). However, the project has faced strong criticism from environmental experts due to the potential risk of oil spills affecting the Amazon River’s mouth.

In 2019, the UN commission had already accepted Brazil’s request to extend its maritime boundary off the coasts of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, granting sovereignty over an area beyond the 200-mile limit, totaling 170,000 square kilometers. The next request to be reviewed by UN experts involves a stretch of the seabed and subsoil from São Paulo to Paraíba. The so-called Southern Eastern Margin is the largest area claimed by Brazil, covering 1.5 million square kilometers.

Source: Valor International

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