The Algarve Free Oil Platform (PALP) wants to know if the Government will continue to support the exploration of oil and gas in Portugal after having associated the term Transição Energética to the name of the Ministry of Environment.
The anti-oil group in the Algarve says the government reshuffle that took place this week raises some questions.
«The Ministry of Environment is now also responsible for the Energy Transition portfolio. This is in line with what has happened in recent years in other European countries. We would like to be able to believe that the Government has decided to integrate the issue of decarbonisation of the economy in the environmental context from which it cannot be separated, giving up on limiting it solely to the economic context”, says the PALP.
On the other hand, she is concerned about the fact that the guardianship of Transição Energética was handed over to Minister João Matos Fernandes, «whose resignation we subscribe to, having expressed his agreement with the exploitation of hydrocarbons in Portugal, because he considers unnecessary decisions evaluations of impacts, ignores the opinions of entities and the objections of the populations and makes access to documents difficult».
The platform has already requested a meeting with João Galamba, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Energy, «to obtain clarification on the issue of hydrocarbon exploration in Portugal and to try to understand the tutelage's strategy for the energy transition» and expects the request “be accessed as soon as possible”.
"Although the oil companies ENI and Galp have announced that they are no longer able to carry out the Santola-2018X exploration drilling in 1 off the Alentejo coast, it would be crucial to understand the position of the new ministry regarding these and other concessions and the incompatibility of these activities with environmental protection and the rights of populations», he adds.
Even because, recalls the PALP, "if the oil companies did not drill this well in 2018, it was due to the Provisional Measure filed by the PALP in the Court of Loulé, which justified our arguments on August 12 of this year, considering that the reasons presented by the Government do not demonstrate their public interest'.
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