The Minister of the Environment, João Matos Fernandes, continues in his post after last weekend's ministerial reshuffle, with his role augmented to include the remit for Energy Transition.(HERE)
The addition of this responsibility to the pro-oil minister's workload has raised serious questions as to his suitability to lead the country from oil and coal power dependence to the grassy uplands of green energy self-sufficiency or surplus.
Anti-oil collective, PALP, has asked whether the Government will continue to encourage on and offshore oil and gas exploration and production, or will the minister “take a stand in defence of the Environment and adopt a ‘zero carbon, zero exploration’ stance as required under Portugal’s internationally agreed energy transition programme.
PALP, the Plataforma Algarve Livre de Petróleo, asks for reassurance that the government’s move to combine the two briefs under the one minister will see the decarbonisation programme as integral to the Portugal’s environmental and economic future.
PALP has asked to see the newly appointed Secretary of State for Energy, João Galamba, to clarify the government’s role in hydrocarbon exploration in Portugal and to understand how the country’s agreed energy transition programme can be progressed.
In brief, how can the minister push the green decarbonisation remit while promoting oil exploration?
PALP was one of many anti-oil associations which demanded that Minister João Matos Fernandes stood down or was sacked when he agreed with the exploitation of hydrocarbons in Portugal and ignored the need for pre-drilling environmental impact assessments. Fernandes also ignored the opinion expressed in a public petition along with opinions expressed by many of the Algarve region’s tourism, Council and trade sector organisations, while hindering access to key documents.
Recent good news was that the Galp-ENI concession holder for the exploration bloc off Aljezur has admitted that it no longer is able to carry out the Santola-1X test drilling scheduled for the autumn of 2018.
PALP speaks for all the anti-oil associations when it states that “it is 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 the populations."
PALP’s legal move in Loulé Court, to have this test drilling suspended, is parallel to ongoing detailed legal arguments from ASMAA that seeks to have the entire oil and gas exploration programme annulled.