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Under the slogan "stop the drilling", dozens of demonstrators with a black cross painted on their cheeks gathered Saturday on thirty beaches from the north to the south of the country with the cry of "stop drilling" or "oil"
"Why look for oil, it's an energy of the past! ", Denounces Margarida Mendes, one of the organizers of the movement, interviewed by AFP on the beach of Carcavelos, one of the most popular in the Lisbon region
Activists who mobilized against the project oil drilling at 46 km off the coast of Aljezur, a municipality located in the heart of the natural park that extends from the south-west coast of Portugal, last week recorded a major victory against the consortium formed by the Italian oil group ENI and its Portuguese partner, Galp.
Interpelled by the platform for an Algarve without oil (PALP), which responds In addition to about twenty environmentalists, the court of Loulé (south) decided to suspend the work of preparation of the drilling which should have taken place between September 15, 2018 and January 15, 2019.
"Loss of credibility"
Yet, the platform fears that the socialist government grants a new mandate to a project postponed successively since 2007
The NGOs accuse the Socialist executive of having supported the decision of the Environment Agency not to conduct a study to evaluate the impact of the drilling on the environment.
"While the Ministry of Environment is extending the red carpet to the oil sector, the courts could delay or even prevent drilling," says Francisco Ferreira, president of OENEGE Zero.
According to this veteran activist, Portugal "loses its credibility" despite being "among the most ambitious countries in Europe in the fight against climate change."
After several years of 39, investments in renewable energy, Portugal ranks seventh in the ranking of countries of the European Union whose share of clean energy in the total energy consumption is more important , with nearly 25%.
A ratio that exceeds 50% if we consider only the electrical energy consumed by the country. And, thanks to a particularly rainy spring, the production of renewable energy has exceeded the electricity consumption of nearly 10 million inhabitants in the month of March.
In this context, the authorization of oil drilling represents a "disaster" of marketing in the international plane ", regrets Francisco Ferreira." And, internally, the protest movement is still quite strong, because it will protect the One of the most protected coastal regions of the country ", he adds
Moratorium on new projects
The municipalities of the region also oppose the exploitation of hydrocarbons, because it could sink the tourism sector, vital for the local economy.
For its part, the government pointed out that the seabed in question is not particularly sensitive and that the risk of accident is However, last May, it approved a moratorium on any new drilling project and insisted on its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
"For the moment, we are only at the stage where the interested person c whether there is oil or not, if there is any, then it will be necessary to make a preliminary study of environmental impact ", defended the Minister of the Environment, Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes, during an appearance in Parliament. June 27
"The success rate of a new borehole is 15%," said Galp's director of exploration and production, Thore Kristiansen, in an interview with the Business Journal. , that drilling such wells was "very very safe," something that costs about $ 100 million (85 million euros). AFP / RA
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