Bahamas Petroleum stops drilling, for now: ‘No commercial quantities’ found in exploratory well
Bahamas Petroleum Company says it didn’t find enough oil to justify a commercial operation after drilling an exploratory well just 90 miles west of Andros Island, according to a regulatory filing published on Monday.
“Commercial volumes of oil have not been proven at this well location,” the company said. “Drilling has now ceased, the well having reached a depth of approximately 3,900 meters (13,000 feet) without incident, and the well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.”
BPC started drilling the exploratory well just before Christmas last year as it worked to assess the volume of oil deposits in the area. At the time, the company said that the Perseverance #1 was a “potentially basin-opening well, with the kind of scale and associated value uplift exposure rarely offered outside of oil majors.” BPC had hoped to produce as much as 1.44 billion barrels from the well.
Environmentalists had warned about the threats to marine ecosystems in the Caribbean and in Florida, and urged Bahamian authorities to cancel oil exploration licenses and permanently ban offshore drilling in the islands. Fisheries and marine ecosystems in Cuba and the southeastern United States were also at risk of being affected by oil pollution, they said.
Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins said the risks involved in oil drilling greatly outweighed the potential benefits to the Bahamian people, and that the nation should focus on strengthening its tourism-driven economy instead of investing in oil production.
“We hope the Bahamian government takes this as a sign to stop this senseless journey. The United States and the Bahamas have a shared interested in preventing the associated devastation to our climate, coastal communities and economy,” Hoskins said.
But the company said it hasn’t given up on drilling in the Bahamas entirely. BPC said it will evaluate the results of the drilling and define how it will maximize its ability “to monetize and thus create value from its extensive acreage holding in The Bahamas,” according to the filing.
BPC said the data obtained by the exploratory drilling will reduce technical risks for any future exploration.
“In particular, BPC considers that the results from Perseverance #1 may provide a strong technical basis for renewed farm-in discussions, with a view to future drilling at other target locations within BPC’s license areas,” said the filing.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
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