«No prospecting action is planned through Fracking or any other unconventional method, in the Algarve», guaranteed Paulo Carmona, the president of the National Entity for the Fuel Market (ENMC), at the end of a meeting he held this Friday with AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community.
The meeting was requested by the mayors of the Algarve, who demanded clarification on the two contracts for prospecting and possible exploitation of oil inshore (on land) in concessions which, together, cover the territory of 14 of the 16 municipalities in the Algarve.
Taking advantage of the presence in Faro of the president of ENMC, a group of around 40 people gathered at the door of AMAL's headquarters and protested against the prospecting and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Algarve, carrying posters.
The citizens who attended, in addition to showing their discontent, also sought clarification from mayors and members of ENMC.
For this, they had to wait for the end of the meeting, which lasted about two and a half hours. At the meeting, the mayors listened to the guarantees given by the ENMC, but nevertheless they were against the advance of the planned actions, as they had already announced before.
One of the guarantees given was that unconventional methods of prospecting for oil would not be used. Another was that, in the contracts already signed, only authorization is given to carry out these “scientific surveys”, whose objective is to assess whether there is, in fact, oil in the Algarve and in what quantity.
«We have a signed contract, which was posted on the ENMC website the very next day, which allows us to carry out simple, scientific surveys, which will probably be carried out during the next year or in the following years. Before starting the exploration, they have to notify, with an authorization plan, addressed to ENMC, that it will be known by the mayors», assured Paulo Carmona.
The soundings, he added, will be carried out using a drilling "similar to a water hole", hence "environmental impact studies are not necessary". The demonstrators present, who remained attentive to what was said to the journalists, challenged this assertion a lot, considering that there should have been a previous study.
“Now, whether there is oil in the Algarve or not, nobody knows. Dealers will check whether or not there is oil in the region. And then, if there is any, they will have to present all the studies and go through public consultations, consultations with mayors and populations», he added.
Until there are conditions for an eventual oil exploration in the Algarve, «it will never be less than four years», that is, only after 2020.
One of the necessary measures will be the presentation of environmental impact studies, the approval of which will be a mandatory condition for the advancement of any exploration action, regardless of whether there are signed contracts that grant this right to concessionaires.
“There are rights [of concessionaires], but also obligations, which have to be fulfilled. Imagine that one conducts a survey, finds oil and carries out an environmental impact study that is negative: it cannot do the exploration. And note that these studies are serious things», said Paulo Carmona.
If that happens, guaranteed the president of ENMC, there will be "dissolution of the contract", with no obligation for the State to indemnify the company.
«We were clarified in technical terms, because the meeting was very fruitful in this aspect, but, when it comes to the development model we want for the Algarve, we keep the same idea. We disagree with the oil exploration model in the Algarve, we understand that this is not the path for the region», considered AMAL president Jorge Botelho, on the sidelines of the meeting.
"We want an Algarve that is clean energy, with a strong tourism sector and, above all, that is a region with a model and development based on sustainability," he added.
The mayor of Tavira spoke on behalf of the 12 municipalities that were represented at the meeting – representatives of the municipalities of Albufeira and Alcoutim, where land concessions do not reach, and those of Silves and Monchique were not present at the meeting. And he reaffirmed that the Algarve authorities will seek "to use all the means at their disposal to try to reverse this process".
Something that, according to Elvira Martins, one of the protesters and a member of the Oil Free Algarve Platform, could be very complicated. This is because, in the 15 contracts already signed, relating to zones inshore e off-shore from North to South of Portugal, it is “clear that concessionaires can decide to terminate the contract at any time, but the Portuguese State is obliged to negotiate any change to the law that has an impact on the profitability of the companies”.
«We are in a scientific exploration phase, not in the exploration phase, this is another path. In order to have exploration, as we were told, there will have to be environmental impact studies, many decisions and a few years to go». Bearing this in mind, AMAL is preparing to, «at a political level, start talking to the Government», to try to reverse the situation.
One of the biggest criticisms that has been directed at ENMC and the previous Government is the lack of transparency in the process that led to the signing of the contracts. An alleged secrecy rejected by the organization's president, who says that it is possible to consult all contracts and that there has been an effort to clarify the population.
With regard to the municipalities, the ENMC explained "in detail all the processes and pledged not to take steps forward without clarifying the mayors, contrary to what has happened so far," according to the AMAL president.
On the 12th of January, there is a new session, this time at the University of the Algarve and open to all, in which «the representatives of the concessionaires in the Algarve will participate», similar to the one that ENMC has already promoted at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, on the 28th of September .
«I invite the entire population of the Algarve to seek clarification, to enter into a scientific dialogue about what is being done and the perspectives of the programs we have in the Algarve. You can also ask the ENMC for clarification and we will try to respond within five days, which is what we have been trying to do so far,” said Paulo Carmona.
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