The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources,or IBAMA,approved licenses to drill two exploration wells in the offshore Potiguar Basin of the country's highly prospective equatorial margin,state-led oil company Petrobras said Oct.2.Petrobras was notified of the approval to drill the wells in the BM-POT-17 exploration and production block on Sept.29,the company said.The licenses were expected to be delivered Oct.2,after”administrative procedures”related to the release were completed,according to Petrobras.The approval clears the way for Petrobras to start the first major drilling campaign in Brazil's equatorial margin,an offshore area spread across the Barreirinhas,Ceara,Foz do Amazonas,Para-Maranhao and Potiguar basins along the country's northern coast.The region is considered highly prospective for oil and natural gas,especially after more than 15 billion barrels of recoverable reserves was discovered in the Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana.Geologists believe that Brazil's equatorial margin could hold similar,albeit smaller deposits.Work on the BM-POT-17 block in the eastern portion of the equatorial margin will start in November,with the first well to be tapped about 52 kilometers off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte state,according to Petrobras.The offshore portion of the Potiguar Basin is located off the coasts of Ceara and Rio Grande do Norte states.
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