Peru's state-owned oil company failed to attract any bids to develop an oil field that overlaps with the ancestral territories of several indigenous groups, prompting communities and environmentalists to celebrate on Friday.

Known as Block 64, the land parcel overlaps with the ancestral territories of Archel, Wonbins and the Little Clan, and has long been the focus of Indigenous resistance.

On Thursday, Petroperu's failed bidding marked a major blow to its plans to expand oil production in the region.

"It's good news, it's the hardship we've been going through - a relief, but we're still on our guard," Olivia Bisa Tirko, president of the Chapra Nation government in Loreto, Peru, told the Associated Press over the phone.

Petroperu told the Associated Press in a written statement that several companies were interested in the 64 block, but quit at the last minute due to internal strategic shifts rather than external pressures.

The company denied that the Indigenous opposition played a role, asserted that local communities supported oil development and urged action to begin. It also said the neighborhood has obtained the required community approvals (called social permits) which are crucial for transnational oil and gas projects.

Since 1995, indigenous groups have strongly opposed oil development in the region, blocking several companies due to environmental and rights concerns. In 2022, Petroperu controlled 64 blocks, the neighborhood known as the oil concession, and the government granted the right to explore and extract oil within a specific territory.

``It has been a struggle since the Peruvian state granted the concession without consultation or consent (from indigenous communities). •We have been fighting and resisting defending our right to live in a healthy and balanced environment for over 25 years. ”

The results highlight an increasing number of legal, environmental and reputational risks prevent investors from breaking away from Amazon’s oil development.

Andrew Miller, advocacy director for Amazon Watch, a group working to protect the rainforest, said strong local opposition has prevented several multinational oil companies from developing the 64 block since 1995. He said the pollution from other oil blocks has damaged other Amazon communities.

"Their sister's history of indigenous communities in neighboring oil blocks is toxic water, social division and poverty," Miller said. "The oil does not flow every day, and they can still use the river as usual to hold on."

Miller said that while multinationals have invested tens of millions of dollars in the past 64 attempts to build 64 blocks, no one has seen a return, suggesting that the industry now sees it as an expensive financial death. Nevertheless, he believes that the Peruvian government will continue to find a way to encourage the establishment of 64 blocks.

"The local community and its allies will continue to be alert to this zombie project, which has been killed several times but is always trying to return from the dead," he said.

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