By Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Petrobras failed one part of a test needed to obtain a license to drill in the Foz do Amazonas basin, Brazil’s environmental agency wrote in its review made public on Wednesday.
While the agency, called Ibama, said Petrobras passed the broader test, the technical report demanded that the firm resubmit its animal-rescue plan, listing it as a necessary step for its bid to drill in the ecologically sensitive region.
“The proposed plan is not capable of guaranteeing adequate actions to care for animals,” Ibama wrote.
Petrobras and Ibama did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Petrobras previously said it would resubmit the emergency response plan by Friday.
Despite the hurdle, the granting of the license is “inevitable,” a high-ranking Petrobras executive told Reuters, asking not be named to discuss sensitive matters.
The area in which Petrobras aims to drill, off the shore of the Amazonian state of Amapa, is considered Petrobras’ most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil is developing huge fields.
The simulated rescue led to three real-life incidents after Petrobras transported toys standing in for animals in a river at night to fulfill a 24-hour deadline to transport them to a veterinarian center, said the report.
During the trip, a Petrobras boat became entangled in a fishing net. In another instance, one got stuck in a sandbank. There also was a near collision with another vessel, said Ibama.
Ibama staffers also noted that aircraft pilots lacked proper safety equipment from toxic substances that vaporize off animals contaminated with oil.
($1 = 5.3478 reais)
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira, Marta Nogueira and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de JaneiroEditing by Matthew Lewis)
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