{"id":60111055,"date":"2025-11-25T17:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60111055"},"modified":"2025-11-25T17:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:54:16","slug":"brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brazil\u2019s offshore oil industry is leaving \u201ca trail of chronic pollution\u201d across the Atlantic that is marring the marine environment and the country\u2019s reputation, according to an analysis of satellite and vessel tracking data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis was released by SkyTruth<\/a>, an organisation harnessing satellite data to study environmental problems. It identified 179 \u201cprobable oil slicks\u201d in Brazil\u2019s waters from satellite images taken since 2017. Of these, 48 came directly from oil and gas infrastructure. The rest were from vessels associated with the industry. A single production and storage vessel operating in the Santos Basin \u2013 off Brazil\u2019s south-eastern coast \u2013 was responsible for nine slicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the climate impacts of burning the extracted oil, SkyTruth says these facilities are flaring off huge amounts of the extracted gas \u2013 12.5 billion cubic metres since 2012. In addition, several of these sites overlap with marine protected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe patterns we\u2019re documenting \u2013 chronic oil pollution, coastal industrialisation, habitat loss and degradation \u2013 represent significant threats to Brazil\u2019s coastal ecology and economy,\u201d said John Amos, SkyTruth\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the host of this year\u2019s UN climate meeting, COP30, Brazil has been under heavy scrutiny for its fossil fuels record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) in June, various delegates called it hypocritical that Brazil\u2019s president, Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, claims support for Indigenous rights and environmental protection while pursuing oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luene Karipuna, an Indigenous woman of the Karipuna people in Amap\u00e1, northern Brazil, spoke to Dialogue Earth during UNOC<\/a>: \u201cThe project threatens not just the environment but how the Indigenous people live. Here [at UNOC], Lula is saying he supports Indigenous rights. But Lula has pushed for this project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, exploration of the Foz do Amazonas area at the Amazon mouth was approved. At the time, the CEO of Brazil\u2019s state oil firm, Petrobras, called it an \u201cachievement for Brazilian society\u201d (Reuters<\/a>); the Brazilian climate action network Climate Observatory (Observatorio do Clima) said the approval sabotaged COP30 (The Guardian<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amos told Mongabay<\/a> that part of the motivation for this SkyTruth study was to \u201ccall attention to the large coalition of environmental groups, Indigenous peoples and quilombola <\/em>communities <\/em>[descendants of enslaved African people brought to Brazil] <\/em>who have sued Lula\u2019s government to overturn the [exploration] decision, and the work undertaken by organisations like Observatorio do Clima to sketch out alternative futures for Petrobras and the Brazilian energy industry\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazil\u2019s offshore oil industry is leaving \u201ca trail of chronic pollution\u201d across the Atlantic that is marring the marine environment and the country\u2019s reputation, according to an analysis of satellite and vessel tracking data. The analysis was released by SkyTruth, an organisation harnessing satellite data to study environmental problems. It identified 179 \u201cprobable oil slicks\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006658,"template":"","categories":[50039901,760],"tags":[547,573,20000341],"country":[50000021],"digest-collection":[50039911,50039912],"class_list":["post-60111055","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean","category-pollution","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-oil-spill","tag-water-pollution","country-brazil"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBrazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil industry is leaving \u201ca trail of chronic pollution\u201d across the Atlantic that is marring the marine environment and the country\u2019s reputation, according to an analysis of satellite and vessel tracking data. The analysis was released by SkyTruth, an organisation harnessing satellite data to study environmental problems. It identified 179 \u201cprobable oil slicks\u201d […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-25T17:54:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/\",\"name\":\"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-25T17:54:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T17:54:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":784,\"caption\":\"BP1YTW Shoal of Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Sardinia, Italy\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny | Dialogue Earth","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny","og_description":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil industry is leaving \u201ca trail of chronic pollution\u201d across the Atlantic that is marring the marine environment and the country\u2019s reputation, according to an analysis of satellite and vessel tracking data. The analysis was released by SkyTruth, an organisation harnessing satellite data to study environmental problems. It identified 179 \u201cprobable oil slicks\u201d […]","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_modified_time":"2025-11-25T17:54:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":784,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/","name":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-25T17:54:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-25T17:54:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Ocean-news-digest-THUMBNAIL_Alamy_BP1YTW.jpg","width":1200,"height":784,"caption":"BP1YTW Shoal of Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus, Sardinia, Italy"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/brazils-offshore-oil-comes-under-satellite-scrutiny\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Brazil\u2019s offshore oil comes under satellite scrutiny"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60111055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_digest"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60111055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60111056,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_digest\/60111055\/revisions\/60111056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60006658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60111055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60111055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60111055"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60111055"},{"taxonomy":"digest-collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digest-collection?post=60111055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}