NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) last night confirmed that it has in place all of the insurance coverage required for its exploratory well.
The company said in a statement that in accordance with strict legal requirements and as stipulated by the government of The Bahamas, it has in place all insurances required for its exploratory well, Perseverance #1.
BPC CEO Simon Potter said: “Therefore, the statement from Our Islands, Our Future in relation to BPC’s insurance policies is baseless and entirely incorrect.
“As with all insurance contracts, there exists normal business confidentiality provisions, and whilst the details of BPC’s specific contracts have been provided to the government of The Bahamas, they are otherwise subject to the usual commercial confidentiality obligations.
“I would note further that Lloyd’s of London is the world’s leading insurance market, comprised of multiple risk writing syndicates. It is not a company or similar such organization where any one individual can attest to speak for Lloyds as a whole. As such, the corporation of Lloyd’s does not have details of individual contracts underwritten by its syndicates.
“Thus, by choosing to represent an individual as speaking for the whole of the Lloyd’s syndication market is yet another deliberate and gross misrepresentation of basic facts by Our Islands, Our Future, evidencing a near complete lack of understanding and continued naivety as to how businesses operating in The Bahamas (and internationally) actually operate.”
BPC noted that, like every other international publicly-traded company, BPC has a strict legal obligation as to the veracity of the facts contained in its public statements on all matters, not just in relation to insurance.
The company also noted that under the terms of its licenses in The Bahamas, and in accordance with global best practice standards, it is required to secure an extensive suite of insurance policies to cover drilling operations for Perseverance #1, including an appropriate well control policy.
BPC has been forced to respond to several claims by environmentalists regarding its operations in recent weeks.
BPC began drilling its exploratory well on December 20 and has indicated that Bahamians could learn in a matter of weeks if The Bahamas is an oil-rich nation.
A Supreme Court judge has granted environmentalists leave to seek judicial review of the government’s approvals for BPC to drill an exploratory well in Bahamian waters, ruling that Save The Bays and Waterkeeper Bahamas Limited have “an arguable case”. The judge, however, denied the applicants’ application for a stay of the ongoing drilling exercise.
