Offshore staff
NASSAU, the Bahamas – Bahamas Petroleum Co. (BPC) remains on track to drill its first well offshore the Bahamas before the end of the year.
The drillship Stena IceMAX is scheduled to sail west from dock in the Canary Islands before the end of November. It should then take four to five days for the rig to be supplied, loaded, and finally mobilized to the drilling location.
Schlumberger will operate the rig’s managed pressure drilling system, technicians and representatives onboard the vessel throughout drilling operations.
Logistics planning has finished, with arrangements in place for inspection services, supply boats, helicopters and charter airplane services via operating/shore bases in the Canary Islands, the UK, the Bahamas, and the US.
In parallel, BPC has finalized contracts for the supply of fuel, wireline testing equipment, the remote ocean survey vehicle, and purchase of all remaining tubulars required for drilling.
Under an agreement with the government of the Bahamas, one or more Black & Veatch specialists will be onboard the Stena IceMAX to oversee the full drilling program, with a mandate to observe and report on tasks including baseline seafloor survey and testing of drilling fluids to ensure compliance with safety requirements.
BPC expects drilling of what it hopes will be a basin-opening well to last between 45 and 60 days, with tight-hole procedures in place.
The company is targeting 0.7 Bbbl of recoverable oil, with an upside of 1.44 Bbbl, from the northern portion of the B structure.
If Perseverance #1 is successful, it would de-risk the B structure, which extends for 70-80 km (43-50 mi), with a mapped areal closure of more than 400 sq km (154 sq mi), with a best estimate recoverable resource of over 2 Bbbl.
In addition, BPC has received confirmation from the government of a further extension to the second exploration period of its offshore licenses to the end of June 2021, in recognition of COVID-19 restrictions on operations.
11/17/2020
