MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fossil fuels will finance Brazil's energy transformation, Lula says

As long as people cannot do without fossil fuels they shall remain necessary, Lula argued

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pointed out that his country would rely on fossil fuels to finance the transition to clean energy. He made those remarks during a contract signing ceremony with Transpetro and oil companies Rio Grande and Mac Laren.

He also underlined that the State-run oil company Petrobras' oil revenue was essential for developing biofuels, ethanol, green hydrogen, and other sustainable sources.

“I am against fossil fuel when people can do without it. As long as people cannot, people have to have it, because it is Petrobras' money that will help people to make a revolution in the energy transition. It is with the oil money that people will be able to make biofuels, ethanol, green hydrogen, and other things,” the President stressed.

In addition, Lula highlighted Petrobras' expertise in deepwater oil exploration and its minimal incident record and insisted that such a technology should be used to make Petrobras the largest oil company globally.

While noting that without Petrobras, Brazil would need to import oil, Lula also defended the company's plan to drill wells in the Amazon Basin, citing the region's potential oil reservoirs, despite environmental concerns.

“We have a company like Petrobras that does not lose to anyone in deepwater oil exploration intelligence. A company that has almost no incidents, why don't people take advantage of this technology to transform it into the largest oil company in the world?” he added while endorsing the recent greenlight from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) for Petrobras to drill wells on the coast of Amapá, which is believed to contain large oil reservoirs, despite concerns from environmentalist groups.