NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has made an application to the Supreme Court seeking security for costs in the sum of $200,000 in light of the legal action launch by local environmental groups Waterkeepers Bahamas Limited and the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay.
Last month, Supreme Court Justice Petra Hanna Adderley ruled that BPC and Bahamas Offshore Petroleum Company may be added as a party in the judicial review, accepting the position that they would be directly impacted by the legal proceedings.
Waterkeeper Bahamas Ltd. and the Coalition to Save Clifton Bay are seeking a judicial review of the government’s decision to approve exploratory oil drilling in The Bahamas.
BPC has already begun drilling its exploratory well, with the judge having denied a stay of the ongoing exercise.
In an affidavit in support of an ex parte summons seeking security for costs, attorney John F Minnis, a partner in the Graham Thompson law firm, noted that neither Waterkeepers Bahamas or Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay carry on any commercial business operations within The Bahamas, or owns any assets within The Bahamas.
In the circumstances, the attorney said he was of the belief that neither entity have any assets, or sufficient assets, to satisfy an order to pay BPC’s costs, if so ordered.
BPC is also seeking to have all further proceedings stayed, pending the applicants giving security for costs to BPC.
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