Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC Response to application for Judicial Review (1974I)
December 10 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMBPC
RNS Number : 1974I
Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC
10 December 2020
10 December 2020
Bahamas Petroleum Company plc
("BPC" or the "Company")
Response to application for Judicial Review
BPC, the Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas
company, with exploration, production, appraisal and development
assets across the region, notes that an application has been made
to the Supreme Court of The Bahamas, for leave to make an
application for judicial review of the decision taken by the
Government of The Bahamas in February 2020 to grant Environmental
Authorisation for BPC's Perseverance #1 well ("Environmental
Authorisation") which is expected to spud imminently. The
application has been brought by a number of environmental
activists. The applicants are also seeking a stay of the
Environmental Authorisation pending the outcome of any judicial
review, an extension of time to make their application, and have
raised a number of other legal arguments in support of their
claims. The respondent to the application is the Government of The
Bahamas. The applicants have specifically sought to exclude BPC
from being heard in relation to this matter. BPC understands that
the Government of The Bahamas will oppose the application, and BPC
intends to apply to the Court to be heard as a person affected and
to oppose the application.
Given that BPC's drilling operations are scheduled to commence
before the end of 2020 (and indeed, considerable work has already
commenced for those operations), BPC anticipates that the
application for a stay will be determined definitively by the Court
on an expedited basis, prior to drilling operations commencing. BPC
believes the application to be without legal basis or merit and
considers that there should be no legal impediment to proceeding
with the drilling of the Perseverance #1 well.
Commenting, Simon Potter, CEO of BPC, said:
"Yesterday's application for a judicial review, an extension of
time and a stay, from a group of environmental activists, is
entirely without merit. BPC will vigorously oppose the application,
and we understand that the Government of The Bahamas will be doing
likewise. BPC's drilling plans have been public knowledge for
almost a decade, and the Government provided Environmental
Authorisation to BPC in February 2020, following an extensive
program of work. Environmental activists could have sought to bring
this application at any time - that they have waited until now, on
the cusp of drilling, speaks to their true agenda, which is not any
real concern for judicial process but simply to disrupt and stop
our lawful activity.
"The Government of The Bahamas is exercising its legitimate,
sovereign right to establish if the nation of The Bahamas has its
own commercial hydrocarbon resource. With the islands facing
economic fragility, suffering from both hurricane damage and the
impacts of Covid-19, a successful petroleum discovery has the
potential to rebase the economy, generate billions in revenues over
the life of the project and create new contracts and jobs. No oil
will be produced by Perseverance #1 as it is purely a fact-finding
exercise of short duration. The people of The Bahamas have a right
to know if this resource is there for them and for future
generations of Bahamians. In the past 10 years, many thousands of
offshore oil wells have been drilled safely and without incident
all around the world, and many other nations in the region such as
the USA, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Guyana, have
over the past decades safely and responsibly drilled offshore
wells, developed or continue to develop offshore hydrocarbon
resources, and reaped the economic benefits of an established or a
whole new industry. Moreover, these other nations have been able to
do so at the same time as seeing growth and development of existing
industry sectors, such as tourism.
"The Government of The Bahamas is to be commended for the
thorough, comprehensive process of review and scrutiny they put BPC
through over nearly a decade around the Environmental Authorisation
process for the drilling of the well, as well as for the Petroleum
Act and Petroleum Operations related Regulations which were passed
into law in 2016. In gaining its Environmental Authorisation, BPC
adhered to all applicable Bahamian laws, and over and above this
adhered to all applicable guidelines, international standards and
best practices. We look forward to proceeding with Perseverance #1
on schedule, and fulfilling our licence commitments to the
Government of The Bahamas."
Regulatory Statements
The information communicated in this announcement contains
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market
Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:
Bahamas Petroleum Company plc Tel: +44 (0) 1624
Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer 647 882
Strand Hanson Limited - Nomad Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409
Rory Murphy / James Spinney / Jack Botros 3494
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited - Tel: +44 (0) 207 408
Joint Broker 4090
Jerry Keen / Toby Gibbs
Investec Bank Plc - Joint Broker Tel: +44 (0) 207 597
Chris Sim / Rahul Sharma 5970
CAMARCO Tel: +44 (0) 020 3757
Billy Clegg / James Crothers / Hugo Liddy 4980
Notes to editors
BPC is a Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas
company, with a range of exploration, appraisal, development and
production assets and licences, located offshore in the waters of
The Bahamas and Uruguay, and onshore in Trinidad and Tobago, and
Suriname. BPC is currently on-track for drilling an initial
exploration well in The Bahamas, Perseverance #1, in late 2020 /
early 2021, with the well targeting recoverable P(50) prospective
oil resources of 0.77 billion barrels, with an upside of 1.44
billion barrels. In Trinidad and Tobago, BPC has five producing
fields, two appraisal / development projects and a prospective
exploration portfolio in the South West Peninsula. BPC's
exploration licence in Uruguay is highly prospective, with a
potential resource of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. In
Suriname, BPC has an onshore appraisal / development project.
BPC is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. www.bpcplc.com
END
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