oil exiles

A trip to the moon today. I was at Urucu, an oil and natural gas facility some 600km west (and south a bit) of Manaus. It sits above massive reserves of natural gas, and smaller fields of high-quality oil. And those reserves are in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the final approach into Urucu, as seen from my airplane window early this morning.

The Urucu facility itself is a strange, strange place. It operates much like an offshore rig - workers come for fourteen-day stretches, followed by weeks off. The regulation uniform is an orange jumpsuit (which produces immediate associations in the mind). Identikit gas-powered Petrobras 4×4s move at speeds no greater than 50kmph. And everywhere you look there’s a stern series of bins reminding you to recycle everything that can be recycled, lest the pristine state of the place be disturbed. I couldn’t help but think of one of those Bond villain lairs circa 1978. A remote location. Men in monochrome uniforms and hard hats, motoring around at purposeful, pedestrian speeds. And no visible trash.

Only there doesn’t seem to be much that’s villainous about Urucu. The environmental procedures and processes are deeply impressive, especially since the business of the place is the exploration and exploitation of fossil fuels. They even have a nursery for forest seedlings, ready for planting over closed wells. But whether there are lessons for energy strategies in other environmentally sensitive parts of the world - Alaska, say - well, that’s another matter. I hope to produce a radio story about Urucu for PRI’s The World before too long. Stay tuned, as they say.

Tomorrow’s my last full day in Brazil. Two interviews lined up: the first with someone from SUFRAMA, the organization behind Manaus’ free trade zone (the principal motor of the city’s growth in the last few decades). And then I’ll meet a representative of some of the Brazilian Amazon’s indigenous communities. So much is going on in this place, and fast. His is a perspective I don’t want to miss.

Oh yes, one other thing. Here’s a short audio slideshow of a bustling local market from yesterday morning in Manaus. I’d gone out with the hope of taking shots of the city’s faded architectural glories. But clouds and rain didn’t make for the best conditions. So I tried a bit of an experiment and concentrated on photos of umbrellas - the colors, the patterns, the owners. Let me know what you think. Thanks to my colleague at The World, Julia Kumari Drapkin, for putting it together at a moment’s notice.