Lula will visit Petrobras ship in Amapá to highlight signs of oil and in a gesture to Alcolumbre

The SRI (Secretariat of Institutional Relations) has already sent the invitation to politicians in the region, to receive the president in Oiapoque (AP) in the morning.

Lula will visit, together with Alcolumbre, the president of Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, and governor Clécio Luís (União Brasil), who is a candidate for re-election, the Petrobras drill ship. A press interview should take place later in the afternoon.

The government is working so that, on the same day of the visit, Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) announces authorization for Petrobras to drill three more wells in the same area, PAD-Morpho, Manga and Crotalus, to deepen studies.

On Friday (14), Petrobras reported that it had identified the presence of hydrocarbons in the first well explored in the Foz do Amazonas sedimentary basin, in ultra-deep waters off the coast of Amapá. Although confirmation still depends on tests, members of the state-owned company say the probability that it is oil is high.

Morpho is the first in block 59 to be prospected by the state-owned company. Lula has defended the need to explore oil in new areas to prevent the country from becoming an oil importer again. Brazil needs to explore new reserves from 2034-2035, when the pre-salt is expected to reach its peak production and begin to decline.

With disagreements with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, national sovereignty became one of the main themes of Lula's re-election campaign, and energy independence is part of this axis.

Furthermore, the discovery made by Petrobras should be explored by Lula in the context of his electoral slogan "Brazil ready for more", in which the president wants to assure voters that he has progress to make in the next government.

Furthermore, the visit on the second day of the electoral campaign reinforces Lula's rapprochement with Alcolumbre. Both did not speak for more than 90 days, after the Senate rejected Jorge Messias' nomination for the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, from the STF, helped them reconcile and organized a rapprochement dinner. Since then, Lula and Alcolumbre have met twice more. This Monday, with the visit, will be the fourth time in ten days.

After the meeting on Friday (14), the president of the Senate unveiled three priority agendas for the government: the PECs (Proposed Amendments to the Constitution) for the end of the 6x1 journey and Public Security, and the bill for the legal framework for the exploration of critical minerals.

During the visit, Lula is expected to declare support for the re-election of governor Clécio Luís, an ally of Alcolumbre who is trailing in voting intention polls, in a dispute against the former mayor of Macapá, Dr Furlan (PSD). The governor told Folha that he will campaign for the PT member.

Morpho drilling had one of the most turbulent environmental licensing processes in the country, with back and forth and attacks on the technical area of ??Ibama, which even recommended the process be archived.

The institute finally granted the license in October 2025, under pressure from President Lula and politicians in the region, especially Alcolumbre. The document was issued on the eve of COP30, in Belém, and became the target of organizations present at the event.

For environmentalists, the opening of new frontiers for oil production contradicts warnings from scientists about the need to reduce the burning of fossil fuels to combat climate change.

The government argues that Brazil cannot give up exploring its subsoil riches. At the COP, two months after authorizing drilling, Lula unsuccessfully proposed the approval of measures to reduce fossil consumption.

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