Total determined over plans to drill Amazon basin, says CEO

Greenpeace activists protest during Total's annual shareholders meeting, against the French oil and gas major's quest to the drill in the ecologically sensitive Amazon basin and French Guyana, in Paris, France, June 1, 2018. Guenole Le Gal/Greenpeace/ANV-COP 21/Handout via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - Total has not abandoned plans to drill a basin of the Amazon river after Brazil's environmental agency rejected its application for a license for a fourth time, the French oil and gas major's chief executive said on Friday.

CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the company would not cede to any kind of blackmail. He had begun speaking as several Greenpeace activists hung from ropes above him in protest at the company's exploration plans. [

"Our position on the Amazon project has not been abandoned. We have our rights and we have obviously to respect Brazilian laws," Pouyanne said.

Greenpeace activists protest during Total's annual shareholders meeting, against the French oil and gas major's quest to the drill in the ecologically sensitive Amazon basin and French Guyana, in Paris, France, June 1, 2018. Nastasia Froloff /Greenpeace/ANV-COP 21/Handout via REUTERS

"It is also clear that Brazil's environmental regulators are under immense pressure from other organizations. We are exchanging information with them," he added.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)