The meeting was held in the auditorium of the Algarve University’s Health School, in Faro.
The ENMC said that, with the session, they hoped to “help demystify some incorrect ideas that have gone public on the subject of prospecting and exploration of oil in the Algarve”, and provide a more complete clarification on the matter.
Concessionaires with whom contracts have already been signed – Repsol, ENI, Galp, Partex and Portfuel – were also invited to take part in the meeting, “so that the information transmitted to the public is the most complete and detailed as possible.”
Despite originally being billed as a two-hour meeting, starting at 6pm and ending at 8pm, the public session ran almost three hours over schedule, finishing nearer to 11pm.
On several occasions the night was interrupted by outbursts from the audience, made up mainly of environmentalists and the region’s mayors.
This prompted the president of the ENMC, Paulo Carmona, to threaten bringing the meeting to an early end.
Last month the mayors of the Algarve, through the inter-municipal association AMAL, put out a statement in which they expressed their “displeasure, serious doubts, concerns and enormous scepticism” regarding the matter of prospecting in the region.
They further accused the state of treating the Algarve and its inhabitants with “disdain” since proceedings began.
AMAL claims that even though the process has been ongoing since 2005, the region’s entities have never been “informed or consulted.”
During the meeting in Faro, the mayors and the environmentalists made their opposition to the prospecting clear.
But, Paulo Carmona said: “It is necessary to do away with pre-conceived ideas.
“There isn’t a country that has discovered energy resources and that hasn’t explored them, and of course we must be careful with the environmental aspects”, he added.
The head of the ENMC insisted that in this current phase of prospecting and exploration, there are no environmental risks.
Only if oil or natural gas was to be found and proceedings moved on to a phase of exploration, would it be necessary to carry out a public consultation and study environmental impact, he explained.
“Portugal is not a rich country and we want to develop our natural resources in a sustainable manner” Paul Carmona stressed, backed by several representatives of exploration companies who guaranteed that “very strict” European environmental standards are being met.
Several Algarve mayors expressed their concerns that exploration could have “adverse effects” on the region’s tourism, which is central to the Algarve’s development.
They also reiterated their criticism that they had not been consulted or informed when contracts were being signed between the Portuguese state and the prospecting companies.
For their part, the environmentalists, many of them foreigners who live in the Algarve, or members of local associations such as Tavira in Transition or the Association for Algarve Surfers and Maritime Activities, also showed their opposition by waving red cards and banners.
A statement sent from Tavira in Transition to The Portugal News claimed that “nothing new” was brought out during the session, and “the only question that could have benefitted from a clear answer remains unclear: are they going to use fracking in the Barrocal?”
The answer given, the association claims, was that while fracking is not foreseen, should it become an option it would be subjected to standard measures, which in the association’s opinion “means that the Algarve remains under the threat of fracking.”
Fracking is the process of drilling deep into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure, which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.
It is controversial not only because it uses massive amounts of water but there are concerns that it could also cause small tremors as well as contaminate surrounding water sources.
Tavira in Transition recounted that the mayors of Tavira, Aljezur and Loulé “spoke passionately about the Algarve and tourism and the need to preserve this sustainable economy.”
“The representatives of the oil companies and ENMC were clearly taken by surprise by the high standard of questions and the persistence of the very well-informed Portuguese audience”, Tavira in Transtion reflected, adding: “It became clear there is some confusion regarding whether environmental studies have been done, and if they are accessible to the public.”
According to Lusa News Agency, information published on the ENMC’s website shows that four ‘deep offshore’ concession contracts have been signed, two for the west Algarve and two for the east, while a further two contracts have been signed for ‘onshore’ prospection and eventual exploration, in Aljezur and Tavira.