Total Ditches Environmentally Sensitive Brazilian Oil Blocks

French supermajor Total is giving up operatorship of five exploration blocks offshore Brazil in an environmentally sensitive area for which it has failed to secure drilling permits numerous times. Total said on Monday that it had notified its partners last month that it is resigning from its role of operator of five exploration blocks in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, 120 kilometers (74 miles) offshore Brazil. Total has also notified Brazil’s regulator ANP of its decision to give up operatorship of the blocks, which opens a six-month period in…