Bahamas Petroleum Company has spudded the Perseverance #1 well in The Bahamas, targeting P50 prospective oil resources of 0.77 billion barrels, with an upside of 1.44 billion barrels.
The company said on Monday the well was drilled on December 20 at 06.30 EST and is anticipated to take 45 – 60 days to complete.
“This is a momentous milestone for both BPC and The Bahamas and represents the culmination of more than ten years work by a team who have remained steadfast in their belief in this project throughout – that it is finally taking place is a testament to the application, skill and professionalism of many people over those years,” said Simon Potter, BPC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
He said the well will be drilled to the highest environmental and safety standards over the next 45 – 60 days.
“Our Shareholders have been extremely patient, but we are now within a couple of months of understanding the scale of potential resource uplift that might be accessed within the licences: a potential uplift that is the traditional domain of the ‘oil majors’,” he stated.
The CEO said more than a decade ago BPC secured several offshore hydrocarbon licences in the far-southern waters of The Bahamas. Convinced of the compelling prospectivity of those licences, the Company has spent close to $120 million bettering its technical understanding, continuing to de-risk the play, and ultimately preparing meticulously for exploration drilling.
“Our 3D seismic survey revealed structures that have the potential to contain a world class, multibillion barrel oil resource that, if present in the way we hope, could prove to be transformative – not just for our company, but for the nation and people of The Bahamas as a whole,” Potter said. “I very much look forward to updating shareholders with results once the well has been completed. The next several weeks will be a truly exciting time for BPC.”
In The Bahamas, BPC holds 100% of five (5) exploration licences covering approximately 16,000km2 (4 million acres). Four of the licences are located in the southern territorial waters of The Bahamas, together referred to as the “Southern Licences” (Bain, Cooper, Donaldson, Eneas), and a fifth, the Miami licence, in the northern territorial waters of The Bahamas. The main licences of interest and focus for BPC are the Southern Licences. All licences were awarded for an initial exploration period of three years, with up to three further exploration periods possible. The Southern Licences are commercially co-joined, meaning that the fulfilment of work obligations on any one of the Southern Licences will satisfy the work obligation in respect of all the Southern Licences.
