The Algarve will enter 'a state of war' with the government if the State insists on continuing to aid Galp-ENI in its plan to sink a test well off Aljezur and fails to scrap all current oil and gas exploration concessions and licences. An explosive meeting today saw the region’s mayors, joined by the mayor of Odemira in the lower Alentejo, join forces with the Algarve’s ‘Big Five’ business associations, leaders from environmental associations and pressure groups, and several personalities, to call a halt to the government’s strategy to assist oil companies with their exploration and drilling contracts.
The economy minister’s office today stated that the planned oil drilling off the Aljezur coast will not go ahead until the conclusion, publication and public discussion of an environmental impact assessment, that already is underway.
The Algarve’s tourist board (RTA) has expressed "opposition and dissatisfaction" with the year’s extension of the license for the exploration of oil and natural gas.
The Algarve’s Big Five business associations have thrown their weight behind the region’s mayors in condemning the government’s continuing push for oil and gas exploration off the Aljezur coast.
The Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve, AMAL, issued a statement today, criticising the Government's decision to renew an oil exploration license for the area off Aljezur where Galp-ENI intends to drill this Spring.
