Offshore staff
NASSAU, Bahamas – The Bahamian government has opted to defer any referendum on future oilfield development in the Bahamas until after exploration drilling has been completed.
Bahamas Petroleum Co. (BPC), which has been planning to drill offshore the islands for the past few years, welcomed the decision. In a statement, the company said that the government had demonstrated a responsible approach both to the industry and to potential future investors.
Any subsequent referendum will only be conducted once the presence and scale of petroleum reserves has been established.
Future activities must be performed in full compliance with the islands’ environmental and safety regulations. BPC said it supports provision of a modern framework to govern industry activities with revised and upgraded regulations consistent with international best practices.
BPC has identified an initial drilling location based on interpretation of a full prestack depth migration data set delivered in August 2012. The data has been used to establish regional control on the stratigraphic framework, to complete a comprehensive seismic facies analysis, to re-map key horizons from the intra-Jurassic to the intra-Tertiary, and to tie the Doubloon Saxon well petrophysics and lithologies into the overall interpretation.
As a result, the seal risk has been greatly reduced and the potential for hydrocarbons increased in both folds B and C.
In addition, the new data has confirmed the potential of the previously unevaluated deeper section below the first anhydrite, close to base Aptian. This appears to have source, faulted migration pathways, reservoir, and seal in juxtaposition – all positive factors for oil.
However, BPC says it will take at least a year to prepare a plan for drilling, procurement, logistics, and support based on the existing front-end engineering and design study.
The company continues farm-out discussions with various parties concerning a future drilling program.
3/14/2013
