The Tribune

By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE MINISTER for the environment, Earl Deveaux, said yesterday that proposed amendments to regulations governing oil exploration in the Bahamas have been developed, and it will be up the next administration to decide whether to address them. Speaking with Tribune Business, Mr Deveaux said the relevant regulations had required a review, and he travelled with a team to Norway where they were given a comprehensive overview of that country's petroleum/oil industry. "We had produced a report, and based on it we were authorised to develop recommendations for the amendments to our petroleum regulations, our Act, our environmental oversight and the whole regime for dealing with oil," Mr Deveaux said. "Parliament is near dead, so they were never intended to be a part of this Parliament. Whenever Parliament comes to a close we are all required to provide briefing documents summarising what we have done and what issues are left to be addressed. "Any minister or government elected has an obligation or duty to check and verify. There are a number of things that become almost irreversible in the course of government; legislative review is on of those. The Petroleum Act and petroleum regulations as we have now date back over 40 years. "For any reason other than the fact that they are that old and the technology moves so quickly, they warrant a review. Any government would be pleased for a review and to look at it. Whether they do anything or change anything is a totally different story." Mr Deveaux said that reviewing the country's petroleum regulations was not a "dead issue". He said: "The regulatory regime for the environmental issues needs to be strengthened, the profit sharing needs to be strengthened, this insistence for things Bahamian needs to be strengthened, and it has to go beyond the immigration law. "If you are going to permit something as intrusive and as permanent as hydrocarbon industries into the country, it requires a long range programme of preparation for a whole different set of persons in your society." The Ministry of Environment has issued a list of several companies granted licenses to search for oil in the Bahamas and their current status, in response to continuing claims that the moratorium on exploratory drilling is being violated. Mr Deveaux recently said the moratorium is very much still in place, and will continue until extensive study and consultation is carried out.