UK Junior De-risks Bahamas Play

London-traded Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) has taken steps to de-risk its offshore acreage in the Bahamas and decide on a drilling site, as it pushes ahead with farm-in and funding talks.

The company has carried out four separate subsurface studies with the help of third-party consultants, it said in a stock exchange filing on September 3.

“Taken collectively, these studies highlight the likely presence and quality of a world-class source rock and petroleum system located precisely in the BPC licence area, with charge and migration pathways evidence to delivery hydrocarbons into the identified structures,” it explained.

According to CEO Simon Potter, the aim is to “further reduce subsurface risk” and “optimise the location of the wells we intend to drill.”

It said study results reconfirmed that its project was “a drill ready, potentially multi-billion barrel prospect inventory.” 

BPC plans to start drilling in the first half of 2020, having recently entered into a framework agreement with deepsea contractor Seadrill to procure a rig. It is in discussions with “multiple parties” to secure a farm-in partner to help cover drilling costs, estimated at $25-50mn. It is also considering alternative financing options.

BNS holds sole rights to the Bain, Cooper, Donaldson, Eneas and Miami licences adjacent the Bahamas’ maritime border with Cuba. A study of the late Jurassic source rock in the region, BPC said, found it was analogous to the Smackover interval producing in deep-water eastern US Gulf of Mexico, and has also been calibrated as the source of nearby onshore Cuba oil production.