(Alliance News) - Caribbean-focused oil explorer Bahamas Petroleum Co PLC on Monday reported a widened loss for 2019, as expenses rose and it generated no revenue for the year.
For the year, the company reported a pretax loss of USD4.6 million, widened from USD1.3 million the year before.
Bahamas's employee benefit expenses rose to USD1.4 million from USD458,923, while other costs increased to USD2.9 million from USD1.8 million.
The company did not generate any revenue in 2019 or 2018.
Over the year, Bahamas Petroleum noted significant progress made towards drilling the Perseverance 1 well in 2020, which is targeting P50 recoverable prospective resources of 770 million barrels, with an upside of 1.44 billion barrels.
However, post period, drilling activities were postponed as a result of the unprecedented spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In May, Bahamas entered into a fully termed and unconditional rig contract with Stena Drilling for the delivery of a sixth-generation drilling rig to a location within a time slot between December 15 and February 1, 2021.
Looking ahead, Bahamas said it and all personnel remain resolute in chasing its primary objective, which is starting exploration drilling on Perseverance 1, now expected to spud in late 2020 or early 2021.
"We were within weeks of commencing the drilling of our long awaited exploration well that you - the shareholders - and all of us who work in the company have waited a long time for. And along the way we had already met, responded to, and overcome a range of adverse situations. But even in the face of a dramatic and deeply impactful global pandemic we have remained resolute in our single-minded focus - to deliver the well," said Chief Executive Officer Simon Potter.
"To this end we have rescheduled our program, revisited our funding strategy, and most recently unconditionally contracted a drilling rig with a window for commencement of drilling beginning before the end of 2020, affording the company the greatest assurance of 60 days of continuous operations necessary to complete the well. This chosen window demonstrates our clear intent to proceed to drilling without unnecessary delay, being the earliest opportunity post the 2020 hurricane season in the Bahamas, and by which time we expect the worst of the Covid-19 impacts to be behind us," Potter added.
Shares in Bahamas Petroleum were 17% higher at 3.39 pence on Monday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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