It will be no surprise to the anti-oil associations and their supporters that the government, in the form of the Ministry of the Sea, is to challenge Loulé court’s ruling that suspended activity relating to the drilling of a test well off Aljezur by the Galp-ENI consortium.
Why the Portuguese taxpayer is funding this appeal by the Ministry of the Sea and the General Directorate of Marine Resources is interesting as as this would seem to be the concession holder's fight, not a taxpayer funded struggle against something the taxpayer generaly doesn't want to see happen.
Helping to turn up the pressure this coming week is the Minister of the Environment, Pedro Matos Fernandes, who is arriving in the region on Monday 20th August, ostensible to have a look at the fire ravaged municipality of Monchique.
In Lisbon, the Minister of the Sea has released lots of comments about to how business can squeeze money out of Portugal’s sea area by using it as ‘a global logistics hub to handle imports and exports.’
Minister, Ana Paula Vitorino has defined her objectives for Portugal to take advantage of a vast ocean area, through a series of projects that will soak up €600 million in investment.
In a lengthy interview with Jornal Económico, the Minister for the Sea sets out her clear blue objectives to take advantage of the potential for developing as a global logistics hub, for exporting renewable energy output and for exploiting the bio-economy.
To achieve these objectives, "We are promoting the sea as an investment asset," says Ana Paula Vitorino, brandishing the figure of €600 million for Portugal to use to double the economy of the sea’s contribution to her economy to 5% of gross domestic product.
The strategy for the nation’s ports involves expanding them so they can handle a 200% growth in container shipping and handle lots of Liquefied Natural Gas while at the same time creating Port Tech Clusters.
The 'Blue Tech Accelerator - Ports & Shipping 4.0' was launched by the ministry recently, an initiative that aims to boost startups in the digital, automation and energy sectors applicable to the port and shipping sector.
Then there is the 'Industrial Strategy of Ocean Renewable Energies,' which aims to produce renewable energy technologies at Portugal’s shipyards. Portugal's largest offshore wind farm is being made and will be installed in Viana do Castelo.
In the field of bio-economics, the 'Aquaculture+ Plan' aims to double production of farmed fish to 20,000 tonnes per year.
Then there’s the exciting area of blue biotechnology, involving medicine and cosmetics.
Vitorino says she is promoting the sea as an ‘investment asset’ with attractive yield rates and will support the investor with up-to-date and relevant information, will make banks aware of the risk profiles of the various sea economy sectors and will draw up proposals that reduce investment and innovation costs.
Many of these are exciting areas where Portugal can take a lead, ideally placed with its vast ocean territory and west facing seaboard.
What is missing from the interview are questions and answers on oil and gas development, despite this being a highly contentious environmental issue and clearly bang in the middle of her remit – as is the mining of Portugal’s ocean beds for nodes containing mineral deposits.
Vitorino is pro-oil and gas development, keenly pushing the government's remit to facilitate concession holders' administrative path to exploration and extraction.
The minister is remembered for her announcement in September 2016, at a conference in the US, that "the first exploratory oil well will be drilled in Portugal in 2017." This announcement was made shortly after the public consultation process in to oil drilling off Aljezur had started.
By pre-empting the result of the consultation, Vitorino confirmed that the government had every intention of ignoring 'anti-oil' public opinion - a stance that has been borne out.
Regrettably, hydrocarbons is the area for which her duplicity will be remembered - talking about blue economy initiatives with which few would argue while remaining determined to establish Portugal as a gas and oil producer in the face of clear environmental and financial risks to nature and tourism.
