ANGRA DOS REIS, Brazil, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian oil

firm Petrobras expects to ready a veterinary center in the

Amazon to care for animals in the event of an oil spill by the

end of March, two sources told Reuters on Monday.

The animal care center in the northern state of Amapa is one

of the main demands from Brazil's environmental agency Ibama

still not met by Petrobras in order to potentially

get approval to drill in an offshore area near the Amazon River.

Ibama blocked Petrobras from drilling the well in the

environmentally sensitive region in 2023, but the company filed

a new request, which the agency is currently assessing, with no

deadline to give a final answer.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defended

Petrobras' bid to explore the region. He said last week, "Ibama

is a government agency that seems to be against the government."

Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard said on Monday that if

Ibama grants the license for the exploratory campaign at the

mouth of the Amazon, the company will do everything "extremely

safely" and will have the "best emergency apparatus in the

world."

The works to build the veterinary center are in their final

stages, the sources said, but added that they have faced a delay

due to rains in the region. Initially, they said, Petrobras was

expecting to finish the center in February.

The so-called Equatorial Margin is Brazil's most promising

oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon

Mobil ( XOM ) is developing huge fields.

While the region holds great potential for Petrobras, the

firm has faced stiff resistance from local Indigenous

communities and federal prosecutors related to its bid to drill

there

Reuters reported last October, citing documents, that the

head of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, asked Petrobras for further

details concerning the request, even after experts at the agency

advocated that the request be dismissed.

Petrobras director of exploration and production Sylvia dos

Anjos said last month that she expects the firm to receive

approval from Ibama in the first quarter of this year.