Brazil must consider capping oil production and exploration, the country’s environment minister has said, casting her in opposition to the government’s own plans of turning the nation into one of the biggest crude producers by 2029.
“One issue that will have to be faced is the issue of limits, a ceiling for oil exploration. It is a debate that is not easy but that oil-producing countries will have to face,” Marina Silva told the Financial Times.
Her comments reflect a tension in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s efforts to play both sides of the climate debate — burnishing Brazil’s environmental credentials in protecting the crucial ecology of the Amazon, while supporting oil drilling for its economic benefits. The energy ministry has set a goal of increasing output from 3mn barrels a day last year to 5.4mn by the end of the decade.