By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamas-based oil explorer yesterday hailed the receipt of all necessary environmental approvals from the government as "a massive milestone" towards drilling its first exploratory well.

Simon Potter, pictured, the Bahamas Petroleum Company's (BPC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that it took "huge encouragement" from the granting of Environmental Authorisation for the well it plans to drill in April 2020.

The go-ahead from Romauld Ferreira, minister of the environment, effectively removes the last major obstacle to BPC targeting a sub-sea structure in which up to 800m barrels of oil could be held based on seismic testing and other geological studies.

If the presence of oil is proven at that location, Mr Potter said "close to 2bn barrels" would likely be present in a surrounding field that stretches for 80 kilometres, taking the discovery "up to the field size they're finding in Guyana".

The BPC chief confirmed that the oil explorer received Environmental Authorisation approval, confirming that the government is satisfied with all environmental, safety, security and health measures it is taking, late on Wednesday evening after the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission gave a "no objection" to submissions involving ten years' worth of work.

He added that the extensive analysis of both BPC's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) should reassure environmental activists and others opposed to oil exploration activities in Bahamian waters that any risks associated with its project had been minimised to negligible levels.

And, recalling how he was recently asked on a radio show whether The Bahamas can afford to accommodate BPC's activities, Mr Potter said he responded by saying: "Can you afford not to do this" given the economy's rising debt and high unemployment levels that have been further exacerbated post-Hurricane Dorian.

"This is a massive encouragement to us," Mr Potter told this newspaper of the Environmental Authorisation approval. "We've been able to work collaboratively and collegially with the Government and their advisers over an extended period of time to deliver this.

"The original question was: Is this a big milestone? The answer quite simply is: Yes. To illustrate how big a deal this is, we started the work in 2010 when we began to collect the environmental data and how to implement processes and procedures to cause the drilling of a safe and environmentally responsible well."

BPC's original EIA was accepted by the BEST Commission in 2012, but the oil explorer had to wait a further four years for Parliament to pass laws strengthening the oil exploration regulatory regime - enhancing it to international standards - before further progress could be made.

Mr Potter said this introduced an "extra tier, layer of approval" that BPC had to go through. It submitted its Environmental Authorisation application, including both the EIA and EMP, in 2018 and has for the past two years been working with the BEST Commission and its consultants, Black & Veatch, to address any concerns and issues before the final approval was granted.

"It's a big milestone, so I'm pleased and very proud of the people in this organisation, especially the Bahamians, who worked over such a long time at such high at such high standards," Mr Potter said.

He explained that the environmental data collection effort had involved at least five ship-based surveys of the area where BPC planned to drill its first exploratory well using remote cameras to go down and assess the seabed.

The ocean currents, waves, tide and wind were also extensively studied, while BPC also conducted "unique" mapping exercises across entire sectors of The Bahamas to study coastlines, flora and fauna.

BPC also had to satisfy BEST and its advisers over its planned responses to certain incidents and hazards that might occur, and demonstrate that this was adequate to handle the situation.

"It was not just about the environment either in terms of the documentation and scope of work we had to do," Mr Potter added. "It covers social responsibility, community engagement and the extent to which people have a voice with regard to this particular piece of work.

"It covers operational health. We're quite familiar with the issue of the coronavirus. As we bring staff to the rig from many nations around the world we have to be very clear how we deal with operational health as they come off the rig and back."

The BPC chief said safety is another big element covered by the Environmental Authorisation, along with security and the need to enforce a 500 metre exclusion zone around the rig in compliance with international standards and best practices.

Addressing the continued scepticism of environmentalists, Mr Potter said the project had several features that will mitigate any adverse impacts. "First of all, the location," he told Tribune Business. "The location is over 100 miles from Andros, and sits in a shipping lane adjacent to the maritime border with Cuba.

"It is 15 miles from the border, and the closest landfall is Cuba. It's a very distant and remote location. The rig is effectively a ship that sits in the shipping lane. It will be there very temporarily - probably for 45-60 days. It's there for two months and then will leave.

"The third thing is it's an exploratory well. While we certainly think oil is there, it's not proven until we drill down and find it. We may not find any there. We're not drilling in pressured zones. We're not going to produce with this well," Mr Potter continued.

"The process has eliminated a lot of the uncertainty, but the Environmental Authorisation process has sought to identify all the issues and to hold us to account so that we have systems and responses to these hazards identified. In terms of this being a hazardous operation it's relatively benign. It's our intent not to have any incidents, and the whole purpose of this planning process over 10 years is to make sure we don't."

Mr Potter said BPC can now focus on logistics and execution of its first exploratory well, Perseverance One, with the Environmental Authorisation behind it. The well will be located on the northern part of an 80 kilometre long structure that the oil explorer believes has strong prospects for producing a positive discovery.

"We're targeting close to 0.8bn barrels in this segment of the structure," Mr Potter revealed. "If we find oil there, almost inevitably there will be oil in the rest of the structure and that will be close to 2bn barrels, which kind of gets you up to the field size they're finding in Guyana.

"From a government point of view it will be a considerable additional income stream to the economy. If we are successful there it completely removes the geological uncertainty associated with the rest of the structure."

BPC said in a statement that itself and the Government have agreed to resolve the amount of licence fees it owes for the period to 2018, and the two years to December 2020, within the next 60 days.

Mr Potter was quoted as saying: "On the way to delivering our single-minded goal of safely completing the drilling of the Perseverance No.1 exploration well there will be no more important milestone than receipt of Environmental Authorisation from the Government of The Bahamas.

"Today's approval reflects our steadfast commitment to ensuring that Perseverance No.1 will be drilled in an entirely safe and responsible manner, in full compliance not only with the stringent laws and regulations in place in The Bahamas, but also in accordance with all applicable international standards, and adherence to global best practices as defined by the guidelines and performance measures adopted by multiple international agencies."