A presentation to shareholders in London by the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has revealed that nearly 50 percent of an oil spill would strike Cuba if there is no intervention.
Conversely, far less than one percent of the oil released from a spill would reach the shoreline in The Bahamas, as the majority would be evaporated, biodegraded or blown out to sea. The U.S. is also mostly out of harm's way, according to the presentation.
The results from BPC came from thousands of simulated spills lasting 60 days and tracked over 90 days.
"The goal of this simulation is to detail the evolution and movement of an oil spill in any permutation of prevailing conditions during the 2004-2010 period," a recent BPC report noted. "This extended period enables the inclusion of not only seasonal variation, but also more rapid changes, like those in the ambient Florida Current, as well as the extreme impact of hurricanes, especially given the inclusion of data from the intense 2005 season."
The oil explorer highlighted that "trans-border planning and response will be important".
A series of regional forums on contingencies after an oil spill disaster have begun to address these issues, according to Joshua Sears, director general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He told Guardian Business that a number of meetings have occurred in recent months, although The Bahamas has not attended all of them. The last time the country participated in a forum was back in December 2011, when five different nations shared oil exploration risks and opportunities in Nassau.
"Some may consider [the fact that it went so well] surprising in that they didn't know what to expect. But I had the advantage of attending a similar forum in Mexico recently. Deepwater was a wake-up call for us all," he said in December, referring to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in April 2010.
In fact, in a recent report, BPC said contracting oil spill containment operators and their equipment in both The Bahamas and Cuba will be essential to any recovery effort.
BPC executives have enlisted third-party entities to carry out environmental impact assessments (EIA), and stressed that geologically speaking, The Bahamas is entirely different than what crews faced in the Gulf of Mexico.
BPC has created "an environmental sensitivity map" to prioritize mangroves, coral reefs and other environmental and socioeconomic sensitive areas around the drilling.
"The projected minimum time to shoreline impact varies depending on the location, but is anticipated to exceed two days, giving realistic time to mobilize all required equipment from inside and outside of The Bahamas," its 2011 annual report said.
The recent presentation to shareholders further noted that BPC is attempting to align itself with "best practices" in jurisdictions such as Norway, the UK and the U.S. "as we prepare to drill".
"All parties are committed to responsible exploration and preserving the environment for future generations," the presentation concluded.
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