(Alliance News) -Â Bahamas Petroleum Co PLC on Monday said that while the Perseverance #1 well encountered hydrocarbons, commercial volumes of oil were not proven.
Shares in Bahamas Petroleum sank 69% to 0.64 pence in London on Monday.
The company said the Perseverance #1 well in the Bahamas encountered hydrocarbons, successfully validated the structural model and the petroleum system, and drilled a majority of the potential reservoirs of interest, thus "fulfilling the core technical objectives of the well".
"In a technical sense, the well successfully validated the existence of oil, seal and reservoir. Together, these factors verify the existence of a working Lower Cretaceous petroleum system and sequences of reservoir quality within the Aptian, pointing to the overall hydrocarbon potential of other untested prospects captured by BPC's extensive acreage holding," said Chief Executive Simon Potter.
"However, at the Perseverance #1 location the volumes of oil encountered are not commercial."
Drilling has now ceased, the well having reached a depth of approximately 3,900 metres without incident, and the well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The company said it will undertake a detailed evaluation of all technical information gathered during drilling and review the best way forward for future monetisation of its business in the Bahamas.
Potter said: "Elsewhere in the portfolio, in Trinidad we have producing oil fields and, in combination with assets in Suriname, we have upcoming drilling programmes scheduled in 2021, such that the near-term operational activity focus will now shift toward those activities."
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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