RE: Bpc23 Sep 2018 15:18
http://m.tribune242.com/news/2018/sep/20/oil-explorer-shrugs-end-exclusive-talks/
Mr Potter said the $1m paid for the exclusivity by the unidentified “oil major”, together with funding previously raised, had “put $6m in the bank” over the past year to leave BPC on a “sound footing” financially.
While some observers will likely interpret the exclusivity end as a sign that BPC’s project will ultimately prove unsuccessful, the oil industry veteran indicated he was hardly losing sleep over the failure to pin down a lasting deal.
“They paid us $1m and are not paying us any more. It’s just the normal cut and thrust of commercial negotiations,” Mr Potter said of the exclusivity period’s end. He added that BPC had hired Macquarie, a Canadian investment bank that specialises in the oil and gas industry, to advise it on talks with other prospective partners.
“The reason we brought them in is that we’re working on a whole range of companies rather than just one,” the BPC chief executive explained. “It’s much better for you. It’s a more competitive environment, and possibly a much more competitive deal for us.
“The rocks are still there, the data is still there. It [the exclusivity end] doesn’t change anything, and the commercial environment as the oil price strengthens gets better and better. With the advisers on board we have access to a much greater range of potential partners.
“I cannot name them, and don’t want to discuss specifics about commercial negotiations and things like that, but we’ve opened negotiations with a number of different parties, some of whom have been interested previously. It’s multiple parties.”
BPC, in announcing the exclusivity period’s end, did not name the “major international oil company” involved, citing confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). It has been seeking a joint venture, or farm-in, partner for several years to help finance its first exploratory well, which is targeted for waters south-west of Andros near the maritime border with Cuba.