Gas pipeline in Brazil seen as a model

As more firms look to drill in the Amazon, observers say one project properly balances the needs of the people and the environment.

By Sara Miller Llana | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the July 23, 2007 edition

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Manacapuru, Brazil - Deep in the middle of the Amazonian rain forest, buses whisk men in orange work suits off to help lay down a pipeline that is today one of the region's most remote energy infrastructure projects.

It's enough to make even the most moderate environmentalist blanch.

But after years of opposition, a plan to transport gas 400 miles from its source at a clearing called Urucu, passing 80 species of rare orchids on its way to the Amazonas state capital of Manaus, has been met with reserved praise, even from hard-core activists.

The project by the Brazilian state-controlled company Petrobras is emerging as a model for reducing environmental and social impact, say many observers. And it comes as dozens of other oil companies are looking to explore an expanse that, while among the world's most biologically diverse, also happens to be the largest unexplored region with hydrocarbon potential after Antarctica.

"Prior to the discovery at Urucu, all petroleum produced in South America came from oil fields close to the Andes. But Urucu is situated more than 1,000 miles to the east … and everything in between must now be considered to have hydrocarbon production potential," says Tim Killeen a senior researcher at Conservation International. "If this is not done right, we are going to lose the most important part of the most important forest on the planet."

The Urucu pipeline project is especially key since it comes at a time when Latin American leaders are looking toward energy integration projects – such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's "Pipeline of the South," the 5,000-mile, $20 billion pipeline that would transport gas across the entire continent – plans that some have compared to the cutting up of the American West to lay down railways.

Here in Manacapuru, 50 miles west of Manaus, small fishing boats ply the Solimoes River. Young men blare calypso music as an afternoon fades, old men play dominoes along the riverwalk. For them, the pipeline, which will pass near the town to eventually provide electricity to the 1.5 million residents of Manaus, represents a balance between preserving the forest and providing for the basic needs of their population.

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