"We warned you: new leak in the Amazon River Basin halts drilling by Petrobrás", 08 January 2026

...Only a few days into 2026, around 15 thousand cubic meters of drilling fluid leaked out of the well where Brazilian oil company Petrobrás has been drilling, near the Amazon River Basin. This area is well known for having an almost completely pristine ecosystem, that is still considered unexplored and home to the Great Amazon Reef.

According to the company, the leak was identified on 4 January 2026, at more than 9 thousand feet deep in the sea. Petrobrás announced a plan to halt activities for 15 days and stated that the fluid is composed of a mixture of solids, liquids and chemicals.

This is not an isolated incident but an alert, having been warned about in 2025 by a delegation formed by Greenpeace Brazil, local NGOs, Quilombolas, Indigenous movements and fishermen communities, in a filed lawsuit in the Federal Court against Brazilian Environmental Agency IBAMA, Petrobrás and the Brazilian State. The delegation requested the immediate suspension of activities and the cancellation of the operating license granted to Petrobras for exploration.

This latest leak has a direct relationship with the environmental risks pointed out during  the licensing process...Information about the leak was taken to the lawsuit, in which the authors reiterate the urgency of an immediate action by the Federal Court in suspending the operating license...