With the anti-oil movement now a national entity, oil giant Partex has revealed that it still has no idea whether it will go ahead with drilling off the Algarve or any stretch of coastline.
Talking to Jornal de Notícias this week, Partex president António Costa e Silva explains it will only move forwards if “large deposits” of oil are found – and this is still very much in the air.
It is clear that the Algarve basin is “particularly rich”, he said.
And Partex has been busy, testing 30 potential sites in Portugal, of which some have shown “indications” of oil and gas.
But, JN stresses, “despite the possible existence of fossil fuels, António Costa e Silva made it clear that (Partex) needs wells with large capacity to justify investment”.
“If they are small, we won’t be investing millions of dollars for nothing,” he concluded.
Costa e Silva’s comments came in the week when local pressure group Algarve Livre de Petróleo went national, calling on the whole country to support its anti-oil stance.
