Left Bloc stalwarts João Vasconcelos and Jorge Costa have sent two applications to parliament requesting a key set of documents associated with the one-year renewal of the oil exploration, drilling and extraction licence awarded to the Galp-ENI consortium.The MPs consider that the four documents should be available as they were used to justify the granting of an extension to the contract.
The Ministry of the Economy now has to come up with the request for the extension of the concession period made by the Galp-ENI; the opinions of the local councils affected by the consortium’s plans to drill offshore; the official extension issued by the Secretary of State for Energy and a statement of the reasons for that extension.
The Ministry of the Sea also seems unhappy that the licence has been extended by Secretary of State for Energy, Jorge Seguro Sanches, and has asked for "the report on the survey of vulnerable marine ecosystems," a document that has never been seen but must have submitted under the terms of the licence to use the maritime area off Aljezur.
The Secretary of State for Energy renewed the contract for oil exploration off the Costa Vicentina for a year, a decision reported in the media, and justified by the extraordinary excuse that the consortium "already has spent around €76 million in the last 10 years," implying that taxpayers would be liable for this amount should the licence not be extended.
The Left Bloc MPs rightly have observed that there has been, "little transparency in this process," and therefore require sight of these key documents with which Sanches has justified the renewal of the contract.