The government's stance on drilling for oil in Bahamian waters remains unchanged, with the Minister of Environment Earl Deveaux saying companies like the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) are not getting the green light to drill in the near future.
Deveaux said last week Thursday that the moratorium that has been in place since the Deepwater Horizon spill last year has not been lifted, and more environmental studies will have to be conducted before any drilling activity occurs.
"We have required that any of the oil companies doing something outside of their league that they have to do an environmental impact assessment (EIA)," Deveaux said.  "For example, StatOil has sought permission to engage in exploration and is currently doing an EIA, but the work that BPC has been talking about is frankly more of a business promotion than it is anything else. They have licenses but in order to continue to be viable they need to encourage and promote investment, so the likelihood of them finding oil is elevated whenever they announce that they are in close proximity of this discovery. "
Deveaux's comments came after he was asked a question regarding oil drilling and the environmental impact stemming from it in the House of Assembly by Member of Parliament for Englerston Glenys Hanna-Martin. The response was his first made in a public forum in weeks regarding the topic.
He mentioned that he had decided not to comment on BPC's activity because it could have affected stock prices and investor confidence.
The environment minister added that the government's unchanged stance on oil has been communicated to BPC, despite its CEO Dr. Paul Crevello saying the company is targeting 2012 to start drilling.
"We have a moratorium, we have not gone outside of it, we have not issued any new leases, and any exploration that is intended to take place in The Bahamas will be undertaken with an approved EIA," Deveaux said. "We have no application for oil drilling and I've told [BPC] emphatically that we're not entertaining any of that.  That's something we'll take up at another time."
BPC holds five petroleum exploration licenses covering 3.87 million acres in Bahamian territorial waters and its maritime exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Four of the licenses, named Bain, Cooper, Donaldson and Eneas, are in the southwest Bahamas near the Cuban border. The licenses expire on April 26, 2012, according to BPC's web site.
 

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