MANAUS, BRAZIL — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spoke in an interview about the possibility of exploring oil and natural gas in the Amazon River mouth region. Lula said he wants states in Brazil’s Amazon region to benefit economically from the potential wealth generated by the activity.

“All studies have been completed and everything has been approved. In other words, we obviously have a great responsibility when it comes to extracting oil there, but we have one advantage, which is Petrobras’ expertise. Petrobras is the best company in the world for deepwater exploration, so we are confident about the possibility. But we also believe that, if there is as much oil as we think there is, it will be very good for developing the northern region, it will be very good for developing the state of Amapá. And not only Amapá — the northern states will have to benefit from this wealth if we find what we believe is there, whether oil or gas,” Lula said.

Amazon Agency