"The Amazon's new danger: Brazil sets sights on palm oil-Brazil's ambition to become a palm oil giant could have devastating social and environmental impacts if the move is not carefully managed, say experts", 29 June 2017 and 6 July 2017

...[C]ampaigners and observers fear Brazil's ambitious plans for its palm oil sector will fuel a surge in landgrabbing, conflict and deforestation. These fears have been reinforced by the current uncertainty in Brazilian politics...[N]ew legislation could rollback protections on the Amazon rainforest...This expansion could put at risk huge tracts of forested land in the Amazon region...[T]here is a social impact too. The expansion of palm plantations in the state has led to a rise in land prices and disputes...[R]esearchers say growing interest in the sector could escalate...land-related killings in the Amazon region, already labelled a "humanitarian catastrophe". In 2016 the number of killings linked to land conflicts in Brazil reached 61...In May, a local farm leader in Pará was reported to have been murdered in front of her grandson in a dispute over land ownership on a former oil palm plantation. Even for those farmers who sign up to long-term supply contracts with palm oil companies, the benefits are not necessarily clear cut. "This is a kind of land grabbing, because the farmer can't change their production during this period...[Palm oil] companies promise them up to 4,000 reais (£970) per month but, in many cases, the farmers get indebted with the company that provides them with supplies, such as fertilisers and seed."...[says Pereira da Silva, researching palm oil production at the Federal University of Pará]...

[It mentions Agropalma, Petrobas and Portugal's Galp Energia]