NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Environmentalists yesterday called on the government to “live up its transparency promise” in addressing their concerns about Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC)’s exploratory oil well.
Our Islands, Our Future, an environmental coalition, in a statement asked: “Why is it taking so long for details of Bahamas Petroleum Company’s oil drilling exercise to be released?
“Our Islands, Our Future, on behalf of the concerned public, continues to press for answers. Without the technical data and detailed results from the failed drilling exercise, it is impossible to track the potential for future environmental harm as the company is not letting up on its dream to drill again.”
BPC undertook a controversial exploratory well, Perseverance #1, exercise in its search for commercial quantities of oil in The Bahamas.
In February, its initial well came up dry; however, it has since announced its intention to continue exploration in Bahamian waters and drill another exploratory well amid an ongoing court battle with environmentalists.
Our Islands, Our Future yesterday claimed to have requested official documents related to BPC’s exploration from Attorney General Carl Bethel earlier this year, but said they have yet to receive any response.
“It has been 12 weeks since Our Islands, Our Future formally submitted its first request (January 26, 2021) to Attorney General Carl Bethel for documents including copies of license agreements, as well as certificates of insurance detailing the insurance coverage for the drilling of the Perseverance #1 well,” its statement read.
“That request, like the follow-up one month later, went unanswered by the attorney general. In the groups’ second request sent in March, oil drilling and monitoring reports were added to the list of documents.
“BPC announced since early January they had ceased drilling exercises and would forward relevant reports to the government of The Bahamas per its agreement. We say that more than enough time has passed for the government to have reviewed and passed those documents along to the public as promised.”
It added: “The refusal by this government to do the right thing and release documents does not line up with its promise of transparency and accountability — no matter how many times the prime minister says he is against oil drilling in Bahamian waters.
“The requests submitted to the attorney general include documents related to the recently completed drilling activity at the BPC Perseverance #1 well. There are critical safety concerns and ultimately, they could never be wholly addressed without relevant and pertinent information.”
The organization called attention to the highly anticipated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), “which after four long years can’t seem to be fully implemented”, saying it was “designed to avoid fiascos like this one”.
“It is extremely unfortunate that in 2021, elected officials still have to be hounded for information which should be freely shared — and that such information is linked to events that are in fact so threatening to the environment,” the group stated.
Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, executive director of the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF) and a member of the coalition’s steering committee, said: “We are still looking for clarity regarding what went wrong with drilling the well.
“Was the Stena drillship responsible for dropping the piece of high-tungsten steel down the well hole that required the costly side-tracking? Surely BPC or Stena would have had insurance that would have covered this sort of added expense?”
Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas and also a member of the coalition’s steering committee, added: “We would like to help the government to make the right decision, especially one that affects the livelihoods of many Bahamians and our largest natural resource.
“The government must begin to show that it is comfortable with good governance. The public should be able to access and review all documents, leases, licenses and permits with BPC.”
BPC recently announced it has undertaken a “reset”, inclusive of a name change as well as changes to its board of directors and upper management.
The company is rebranding to Challenger Energy Group, PLC and its CEO Simon Potter is set to step down effective May 20.
