The Eni/Galp consortium took over, in a letter made known by the newspaper Expresso, not being able to proceed with the oil exploration well, off Aljezur, this year.
According to the Expresso, the letter was "sent to the National Fuel Market Entity, with knowledge to the Ministry of the Sea, General Directorate of Maritime Resources (DGRM) and General Directorate of Energy."
In this letter, sent in August, the consortium guarantees that the suspension of work, decreed by the Administrative Court of Loulé, "has as an immediate consequence the legal impossibility of carrying out the survey" and that "the postponement is, once again, inevitable".
The argument, at the time, was, according to the letter, that "there was a violation by the DGRM of the norms of public discussion", for not having made available the monitoring studies of cetaceans when this process was publicly consulted.
The General Directorate of Maritime Resources defends itself, in this letter, claiming that "the study of cetaceans was only completed four months after the public discussion, as scheduled".
The Ministry of the Sea, cited by Expresso, claims that "the need to prepare the report on cetaceans results from the said public consultation."
According to the newspaper, the current contract, from ENI/Galp, "ends in January 2019 and a source from the Ministry of Economy reminds that it cannot be extended again, but the court decision suspends the deadlines for a few months."
The weekly newspaper also writes that, as a result of the suspensions, the consortium had "losses of at least four million euros", thus considering proceeding with compensation against the State.
As for a possible withdrawal of the scoop, the consortium, according to Expresso, said it awaits "the decision of the administrative court" and does not comment on "speculative scenarios".
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