“It is good news for the Algarve. It is good for the region’s sustainability and for the competitiveness of the tourism sector,” said Botelho, stressing that the announcement of Galp and Eni “meets the municipalities’ wishes.”

Portugal’s Galp and Italy’s Eni, oil and gas companies, announced on Monday that they have decided to abandon the oil prospection project off Aljezur, in the Algarve, in an area called the Alentejo Basin, since “the existing conditions made it objectively impossible” to carry out the exploration activities.

Botelho sais the fact that the process underwent “some public and legal scrutiny,” through civic actions and precautionary measures may have contributed to the decision of the consortium.

In August, Loulé court accepted the precautionary action brought by the Oil-Free Algarve Platform to halt the oil exploration well, which was expected to begin last September.

The Eni-led consortium planned to begin the oil exploration in the basin between September and October, after a preparation estimated to last for three months, according to a report sent to the Portuguese Environment Agency.

In a note released on Monday, Galp and Eni regretted “the impossibility of assessing the potential of resources” in the Portuguese sea.

The two companies did not make any “additional comments” given “the existence of several lawsuits in progress.”