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Friday, July 3, 2009

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Minimal 5-year countdown to a gusher By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ Inderia@nasguard.com: Drilling stemming from a joint venture formed to explore oil possibilities in The Bahamas isn't set to kick off for another five years, company officials confirmed. That's if in fact drilling actually takes place. "It's going to be quite a while yet," Idris Reid, spokesman for license holder BPC Limited and its new partner StatoilHydro, told Guardian Business yesterday. "It isn't just a question of setting up oil rigs and drilling, there is a lot of research to do [and] there'll be research for four to five years at least and nothing in terms of drilling." It's a length of time that could see neighboring country Cuba, now courting lease applications from several countries, strike that black gold long before The Bahamas. The head-start would help establish it as an energy independent nation. That's increasingly the dream here in The Bahamas as gasoline prices slowly climb upward. Still, Reid is urging patience. "The Cubans are far ahead of us [because] they've been doing research for years," he said. "We don't want to raise anticipation. "We are just waiting on government approval [for new leases]." His statement follows the joint venture's May announcement it will seek to explore oil possibilities in The Bahamas. That hinges entirely on winning government OK to explore previously untouched waters. Specifically, the approval would be for license holders BPC Limited and StatoilHydro to search for oil in the southwest Bahamas — in what they term potentially oil rich fields lying beneath Bahamian waters. "The licenses included in this joint venture agreement with StatoilHydro are new license areas for BPC in the southwest of The Bahamas," said a statement sent to Guardian Business. "And are still under application pending the approval of the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. "The agreement is conditional on the relevant new licenses being awarded to BPC and assignment with StatoilHydro." The partners are expecting the applications to be processed before the end of 2009. On Tuesday, Reid said the company hasn't yet received further word from the government on approvals of the new leases. He asserts that research, including seismology testing, will start immediately upon approval of those leases. That nod would essentially give permission to BPC and Statoil to search waters adjacent to the licensed areas of exploration BPC already holds. The terms of this agreement are expected to strengthen BPC's capital position and eliminate the need for fresh capital financing. Wednesday, June 24, 2009