(Alliance News) - Bahamas Petroleum Co on Friday delayed the start of drilling due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
The drilling of the Perseverance #1 well in the Bahamas was due to start in April, but the company now believes operations will commence in May or early June.
Bahamas Petroleum said the disruption caused by Covid-19 means some project-essential supplies are having difficulty in making it to the site, and there are also "onerous" travel restrictions for staff and contractors.
"As shareholders will appreciate, the current circumstances occasioned by the Covid-19 response are unprecedented, highly fluid, unpredictable, and of a global nature," said Bahamas Petroleum.
"The company is actively monitoring the situation and its potential impact on an ongoing basis, in an effort to assimilate all relevant information and formulate a prudent, effective response as efficiently as possible. The company will advise shareholders of any material developments as pertain to the company and its planned operations, as and when appropriate," said Bahamas Petroleum.
The firm does not believe its USD25 million to USD30 million cost guidance for the well will change.
Bahamas Petroleum is also looking at finding a partner for the project and is in talks with a number of parties.
"We have made consistent progress toward drilling of the company's 100% owned and operated Perseverance #1 well, targeting recoverable prospective resources of 700 million to 1.4 billion barrels of oil. As a prudent operator, our primary objective is a safe well, best delivered by the ability to drill uninterrupted by external events for the period of the drill plan. Such a continuous operation is also the most cost-effective," said Chief Executive Simon Potter.
"It is in this context we have had to reassess the timing for commencement of drilling given the widespread disruption being caused by the global response to the Covid-19 virus. Whilst incredibly frustrating given all the hard work undertaken to get to the current state of drill-readiness, the responsible thing to do is to slightly reschedule commencement of operations, to later in second-quarter 2020, to a time when continuous delivery of operations can be better assured whilst also still enabling operations to be completed before the peak risk period of the Bahamian hurricane season."
"Pleasingly, farm-out discussions in the context of our overall funding strategy continue to advance. We will update shareholders as appropriate over the coming weeks," he added.
Shares were 1.9% lower on Friday morning in London at 2.60 pence each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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