As rumours swirl across social media that the Repsol-Partex offshore southern Algarve oil exploration contracts have been cancelled, the top man at Galp says he is in nor great rush to start drilling off the west coast in the Santola bloc off Aljezur.
Gomes da Silva said his Galp-ENI consortium is ready to start and, with the April-June good weather window approaching, management is waiting to get approval of the documents submitted to the government for the final go-ahead.
Galp's executive president confirms that everything that needed to be done, has been done as per the requirements of the concession contract, including some studies that Galp was required to submit, and that the consortium is ready to move forward with the controversial oil drilling in the Alentejo basin, but that "We are not in any special hurry."
Asked about the successive delays in this operation, Carlos Gomes da Silva said, "the externalities of any economy are impacted by the time it takes to make decisions. I have nothing more to say."
Despite the outward calm displayed by the energy boss, and this concerningly convoluted comment, Galp has much to be concerned about as the anti-oil opposition has grown from grass roots level through regional trade and government bodies and into the body politic as MPs at last are asking some difficult questions about the oil concession contracts and how on earth they were granted when they seem to have broken procedural rules
The Galp-ENI drilling off Aljezur has been opposed by left wing parties in parliament and by several Alentejo municipalities, including some led by the ruling socialists, as in Odemira which on March 22nd announced that it will proceed with an injunction to halt the drilling and will demand the concession contract is torn up.
Local Left Bloc MP, João Vasconcelos, has questioned the government over its dismissal of the 42,000 signature anti-oil petition which has turned out to be an embarrassing farce.
The Minister of the Sea is meeting oil campaigners in Lisbon this morning while the social media channels spread, and then question, the news that the Repsol-Partex Algarve contracts have been scrapped.
This would be a great result for campaigners and for the region where those involved in tourism, the Algarve’s largest industry, have grave concerns that oil and beach holidays do not mix.
All eyes are on the ENMC website which show the Repsol-Partex concession area still in play, whether or not these particular contracts have been cancelled or not.
This 'south coast diversion' of course has taken the focus off the Aljezur drilling project where the Galp-ENI consortium is waiting for the government’s final green flag so its exploration vessel can set sail.
