April 1, 2025
Since July 2024, the cross-border project Every Last Drop has investigated and mapped available data on oil and gas exploration across the Amazon, focusing on the biome’s reach into Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru.
The analysis used global data on recent oil and gas discoveries to assess the significance of the region in worldwide oil reserves. It found reserves in the Amazon account for nearly one-fifth of all recent discoveries globally from 2022 to 2024.
Understanding the impacts of exploration on Indigenous lands and protected natural areas, along with environmental issues such as deforestation, violations, and gas flaring—the burning of excess natural gas from oil extraction—was crucial.
We gathered data up to 2024 in most cases, focusing on recent years. For certain specific databases, such as those on gas flaring and global reserves, the series extends to 2023. Key findings include identifying areas of significant environmental sensitivity and the overlap between Indigenous territories and protected natural areas with oil blocks in different phases of exploration, both onshore and offshore:
Study: Regions designated for oil and natural gas that remain under review. This stage incorporates geological, seismic, and environmental analyses to evaluate reserves before any potential bidding or exploration.
Offer: Areas are offered to companies interested in obtaining concessions, granting them the right to conduct studies to explore resource potential.
Research: The first step after a company or consortium is awarded an oil block concession. In this phase, studies like seismic surveys and exploratory well drilling are carried out to identify extractable reserves. Unlike the production phase, there is no ongoing extraction of oil or gas for commercial purposes.
Production: The extraction of oil from the subsoil for commercial purposes.
Each phase has distinct impacts, from seismic exploration to the risks of spills and gas emissions during production—particularly in sensitive regions.
See below for details on the databases used in this special series.
1. Oil and gas exploration blocks
The primary database for the Every Last Drop project consists of georeferenced information on oil and gas exploration blocks in the Amazon, covering stages from preliminary studies to production.
The data, detailing various exploration activities across all Amazonian countries, was provided in November 2024 by the Arayara International Institute, which operates the Oil-Free Amazon Monitor. The institute classifies the blocks into three exploratory phases: exploration or production, study or reserved area, and offer or request. The dataset encompasses the entire Pan-Amazon region and includes information compiled by Arayara up until July 2024.
Our team has incorporated new information from other sources, which may result in slight variations from the original data:
1.1. Change of operators in Guyana and Suriname
In Suriname, Hess assumed full operatorship of Block 59 in 2024 after ExxonMobil’s departure. Guyana’s Pomeroon Block, acquired by CGX in 2004, reverted to government control in 2013. The project database has been updated to reflect these changes.
1.2. Changes to block polygons in Brazil
In February 2025, data from the Parecis Basin in Brazil was updated to reflect changes made by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) to the boundaries of 15 blocks in the region.
The boundaries of the following blocks have been adjusted to include a 10-kilometer buffer around Indigenous lands: PRC-T-54, PRC-T-100, PRC-T-101, PRC-T-103, PRC-T-104, PRC-T-105, PRC-T-117, PRC-T-118, PRC-T-120, PRC-T-121, PRC-T-122, PRC-T-133, PRC-T-134, PRC-T-135, and PRC-T-147.
Altered blocks in the Parecis basin; gray areas represent the original polygons and red areas, the current configuration. Green areas are Indigenous lands and blue areas represent protected natural areas.
1.3. Oil operators
We also identified the parent companies and headquarters of the oil companies operating in the Amazon region, in addition to those listed in Arayara’s database.
2. Data on oil and gas reserves
Another valuable resource for understanding the Amazon’s potential in new oil and gas reserves is the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker (GOGET). This tool is managed by Global Energy Monitor, a nonprofit organization that publishes annual reports on the global oil and gas extraction landscape.
The analysis considered only reserves discovered between 2022 and 2024, with the GOGET team resolving any data inconsistencies.
Government data is prioritized over commercial and journalistic sources in the database. The calculation covers only conventional and unknown oil and gas reserves, excluding unconventional assets such as shale oil and gas, which require greater investment and specialized technologies for extraction and processing.
Additionally, the database relies exclusively on publicly available information. Therefore, some fields where this is lacking may be incomplete. Data is also subject to change as new estimates or public information become available.
Based on calculations of the volumes of newly discovered reserves, InfoAmazonia compared their locations with the boundaries of the Amazon as defined by the Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information Network (RAISG) to determine the volume found per region.To calculate the total volume of reserves, two scenarios were considered for recovering the existing amount of oil and gas that can actually be extracted and sold:
Low recovery factor (15 percent for oil and 65 percent for natural gas)
High recovery factor (30 percent for oil and 80 percent for natural gas)
In the past three years, oil and gas discoveries in the Amazon have constituted between 16 and 18 percent of the global total, depending on the criteria used. To ensure clarity and ease of data presentation, the average volume from these two estimates is used when discussing reserve quantities.
3. Indigenous territories, protected natural areas, and the Amazon’s boundaries
Geolocated data for Indigenous territories, protected natural areas, and Amazon boundaries are sourced from RAISG.
These boundaries formed the basis for the spatial analysis, which involved overlaying data layers to identify the overlaps with oil and gas blocks. Proximity and geospatial intersection analyses were conducted to evaluate the presence of exploration blocks within these areas and their surroundings.To assess potential impacts beyond the official boundaries, a 10-kilometer buffer zone was applied around Indigenous territories and protected natural areas.
The Amazon, as defined by RAISG, extends beyond the Amazon biome itself. It includes administrative regions in Ecuador and Brazil and encompasses river basins outside the Amazon basin, such as the Araguaia-Tocantins and Marajó basins.
4. Data on environmental impact
4.1. Deforestation
The deforestation data (especially concerning Block 10 in Ecuador), is sourced from the Global Land Analysis and Discovery program at the University of Maryland. This program uses satellite imagery to monitor forest cover loss.
Raster data on forest cover over time was used to identify vegetation loss within Block 10. Deforestation was detected through temporal analysis of images with data available from 2000 to 2023. Deforestation scars were visually compared with the road network leading to production fields within the block, which made it possible to correlate the expansion of oil infrastructure with the loss of forest cover.
4.2. Gas Flaring
Gas flaring data for each country was taken from the SkyTruth platform, which monitors the burning of excess gas from oil activity using satellite images. The data was downloaded in January 2025, with information available from 2017 to 2023.
In Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, the geographic coordinates of gas flaring incidents were compared with the locations of refineries to exclude potential cases where the burning of gas originated from these facilities, which may be managed by companies other than the operators of the exploration blocks.
The refinery data for each country was extracted from the following sources:
4.3. Population Density
The analysis combined gas flaring data with population density figures to determine how many people are affected within a five-kilometer radius of the flaring sites.
We utilized population density raster data from Kontur, sourced from the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX), with a resolution of 400 meters for our analysis. Gas flaring georeferenced points were mapped onto this population grid, and a five-kilometer buffer was used around each flare point. Next, we conducted a spatial analysis to determine the number of people within these areas of influence, providing a more precise estimate of the pollution impact caused by gas flaring.
4.4. SAO Letters (Brazil)
The Environmental Sensitivity Maps for Oil Spills (SAO) include three main types of information:
Sensitivity of coastal and marine ecosystems;
Sensitivity of biological resources; and
Sensitivity to human uses of spaces and resources (economic activities).
In the Every Last Drop project, we analyzed highly sensitive ecosystem areas near oil exploration blocks in the basin of the mouth of the Amazon River.
Using Geographic Information Systems (SIG), our analysis overlaid these highly sensitive areas mapped by the SAO Charts of the basin with geospatial data of protected territories, including Indigenous lands, quilombo (Afro-Brazilian) communities, and protected natural areas. This allowed us to quantify how many of these protected areas lie within the zones of direct influence of a potential oil spill in the region, providing an estimate of the potential impact on these territories.
5. Environmental incidents and infractions
To gauge the environmental impacts stemming from oil and gas extraction, which range from minor operational incidents to serious violations affecting the environment and human populations, we examined official records of environmental incidents and violations in the oil industry across Brazil, Peru, and Colombia.
We collected and analyzed public databases alongside data requested from regulatory agencies, considering criteria such as incident classification, affected areas, and the companies involved. We spatially cross-referenced these occurrences with exploration blocks and sensitive areas, offering a clearer view of the frequency and distribution of environmental impacts in the three countries studied.
5.1. Brazil
Data from the Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production Incidents report, compiled by the ANP and dating from 2013 to 2022, was used.
We also scrutinized the nature of the incidents (environmental damage, impacts on human health, and others) and their locations, as well as when they occurred. This data was cross-referenced with exploration blocks and the companies responsible.
5.2. Peru and Colombia
Data on environmental violations in Peru and Colombia was requested from the relevant agencies by the media outlets allied with the project in each country.
In Peru, researchers obtained more detailed information, including the value of fines and the locations where they were levied. The data were standardized and cross-referenced with the Arayara Institute’s general database.
In Colombia, the Ministry of Defense released the dates and locations of environmental crimes, from which we compared with the locations of oil and gas exploration blocks in the country.
General information about the Amazon
Specific data
Brazil
Ecuador