By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

LEGISLATION to govern oil exploration will also include the framework for a “sovereign wealth fund” that would benefit the nation in case commercially viable quantities of oil are discovered, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett said yesterday.

He said the legislation has the capacity to vastly increase the nation’s wealth.

The government expects to table long-awaited legislation on oil exploration soon after the House of Assembly resumes next month.

“This new legislative package will also include the legislative framework for a sovereign wealth fund to ensure that in the event oil is discovered in commercially viable quantities, the wealth that will accrue to the nation as a result will be invested, managed and conserved in the most optimal way for present and future generations of Bahamians,” Mr Dorsett said.

“It should be clearly understood that the new legislative regime will ensure that exploration for oil in the Bahamas will be undertaken in a safe and environmentally responsible manner consistent with international standards, best practices, and the most up to date risk management health and safety protocols.”

At a press conference at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, Mr Dorsett said the new Petroleum Act and a “suite of regulations designed to guide and govern oil exploration in the Bahamas” is completed.

He said the new legislation will feature provisions that would better regulate the oil exploration industry from an environmental standpoint.

Last December, Mr Dorsett said the regulatory framework to govern the country’s petroleum sector was a priority. The government, he said, was looking into advancing regulations that would be able to last for the next 50 years.

Last July, Mr Dorsett announced that there would be no exploratory oil drilling for commercial quantities of oil by the Bahamas Petroleum Company in Bahamian waters until the government had implemented regulations to govern petroleum exploration and its environmental impact.

BPC has five oil exploration licenses.

The government also announced in March of last year that if commercial quantities of oil are discovered in the Bahamas, it would engage the Bahamian people in an extensive public information programme to ensure all facts were made available before a national referendum.

The referendum would take place only if it was proven that commercial quantities, which were extractable, existed in Bahamian waters.

Yesterday he said environmental protections are a priority for his ministry.

“The petroleum rigs have been enhanced, and we will also be introducing a new petroleum environmental protection and pollution control regulations. We will also be advancing health and safety regulations, all of which embrace the highest standards imposed from an environmental standpoint for such operations.

“But first things first. It’s obviously important that we not count our chickens before they hatch. That’s why it is so important that we put in place a new modernised, up-to-date legislative framework of the kind I am foreshadowing today, one that will enable us to find out through licensed and properly regulated exploration, just what we have in the way of petroleum resources. The Bahamian people should rest assured that our government remains resolute to its commitment to actualizing those objectives.”

Mr Dorsett said the legislation will allow for the government to deliver on their “commitment to eliminate the fiscal deficit” while at the same time “providing a platform for the systematic reduction in the cost of electricity on a sustained basis for consumers, both residential and commercial.”

Mr Dorsett said there will be a “high level of public consultation” on the legislation.

He said legislation would be tabled once Cabinet has had an opportunity to sign off on it.