The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

cnixon@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Petroleum say they are not discouraged by the fact that recent oil testing off the coast of Cuba yielded no results.

Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Bahamas Petroleum Company's (BPC) chief operating officer Paul Gucwa said while successful drilling in Cuba would have been encouraging the results do not mean there is no oil in the Bahamas, nor does it affect oil drilling efforts.

Dr Gucwa added BPC intends to drill from a different source and from their research it was not unexpected that the Scarabeo-9 drilling off the northwest of Cuba hit a dry well.

"A good result in their drilling would have been good news - however, from our research it was an expected result," he said.

As indicated in BPC's Annual Reports and Accounts 2011, BPC's believes the best location for their initial well is testing "Fold B" into the upper Jurassic. The report said research indicates this feature has the potential for over two billion barrels of oil in the Cretaceous section.

As reported in The Miami Herald, on Friday the Spanish Respol company confirmed that the Scarabeo-9 floating drill platform found nothing in a well 20 miles northwest of Havana, Cuba.

According to BPC report, published on the company's website yesterday, the Bahamas Government is working towards establishing a regulatory framework for gas and oil extraction.

It said: "Completion of the Bahamian elections ahead of their May 2012 deadline and timely progress towards implementation of revised laws, statutes and enabling regulations covering hydrocarbon exploration will promote accelerated activity. The Government is working to put the regulation in place to oversee oil and gas activity. We expect these regulations to be in place prior to our drilling."

In days following the May 7 General Election, shares in the Bahamas Petroleum Company jumped 20 per cent.

Tensions in regard to oil drilling in the Bahamas increased in the weeks leading up to the election after it became known that Prime Minister Perry Christie is a former consultant for the oil company's Bahamian legal team. Mr Christie said he was hired through the law firm Davis & Co, which was headed by now Deputy Prime Minister Brave Davis.

Graham Thompson & Co of which former PLP attorney general Sean McWeeney is a partner, is also listed on the BPC's website, which lists PLP candidate for Killarney Jerome Gomez as its resident manager.

While the party has previously stated that it will pursue oil and natural gas opportunities, Mr Christie told supporters prior to the PLP's win that any decision to drill would be put to a referendum.

While debates over oil drilling in the Bahamas continues to heat up, over 1,250 have signed a petition against it.

The petition titled "No Oil, No Spoil", sponsored by reearth.org, calls on the government to stop all oil exploration and abstain from issuing permits for drilling.

Currently the online petition has 1,257 signatures with a goal of gaining 5,000 signatures in total.

The "No Oil, No Spoil" petition can be found at www.thepetitionsite.com.

Recently appointed Minister of the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett could not be reached for comment up to press time.