The Bahamas should be getting at least 60 percent of the royalties earned from oil exploration, according to business analyst Wayne Johnson.
Johnson, president of Watch Bahamas, a group focused on preserving natural resources, believes that any oil exploration taking place in The Bahamas could bring tremendous benefits to the economy. He said that it's an industry potentially worth billions of dollars.
Johnson suggested that the government establish a national oil and gas company. The company would act as a bargaining agent to ensure The Bahamas receives the maximum benefit from oil exploration.
"The national oil and gas company should be able to negotiate royalties, dividends and payouts to the Bahamian people at large, in addition to investors who are looking to get a return on their monies. The government will actually own the oil as a result," he shared.
"Every Bahamian should get shares in the company. Bahamians should get a royalty and dividends income based on our natural resources. We believe that oil exploration that takes place in The Bahamas could present huge opportunities for the government in terms of reducing our national debt."
Johnson pointed out how oil exploration should also present opportunities for job creation and industry ownership.
"If oil is discovered, it would bring tremendous benefits to The Bahamas. In addition to job creation, Bahamians will be able to own the oil and natural gas industry. We need to lose our dependency on foreign oil by creating industries like manufacturing plastics and biodegradable diesel production. We believe that the potential of oil could be worth billions of dollars," he noted.
"The government should have a national oil and gas company that would be the bargaining agent with the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) in terms of oil exploration and how it is divided up."
Late last year, BPC executives said a "typical revenue split" would be $20 billion in Bahamian royalties, $20 billion to the company and shareholders, and $40 billion in development and operating costs over a decade or more of production.
That split assumes a commercial oil find of $80 billion, although BPC is keen to point out that the numbers are based on estimates that could change as a result of exploration drilling.
At the end of the day, Johnson insisted that the country must benefit more than private entities.
"Then the funds can be used to fund education, sports, healthcare, new technology, manufacturing and new renewable energy systems that would help our country to reduce our expenditure. This would put us in a position where we can eliminate all of our debt," he added.

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