BPC, the Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas company, with exploration, production, appraisal and development assets across the region, is pleased to announce that it has received formal notification from Stena Drilling, consistent with the existing contract, nominating the Stena IceMAX as the intended drill rig for the upcoming Perseverance #1 drilling campaign. The notification has also indicated the start of the contracted window (which commences 15 December 2020) as the approximate time for the arrival of the drill ship in the field, with an associated anticipated well spud date some 3 - 4 days later, once the rig is on station.

Highlights

• Stena IceMAX nominated as the drilling facility for the drilling and completion of the Perseverance #1 well
• Date for anticipated spud of Perseverance #1 prior to Christmas 2020
• Perseverance #1 well targeting recoverable P50 oil resources 0.77 billion barrels, with an upside of 1.44 billion barrels
• The Stena IceMAX is one of the most advanced drillships in the world, dynamically positioned and dual mast drillship designed specifically for safe and efficient operations in a wide variety of drilling conditions
• The drillship facilities include a managed pressure drilling (MPD) system integrated into the ship, to maximise the safety integrity of operations and optimise the pace of drilling through anticipated reservoir formations
• Given confirmation of the anticipated arrival time for the IceMAX in the field, project implementation, previously defined and ongoing in March 2020 prior to the Covid-19 related postponement of work, will now be reactivated to align with a spud in approximately 3 months
• Logistics plans reactivated; previously delivered critical path/long-lead items inspected pending mobilisation from warehouses; Covid-19 impact mitigation plans being implemented and final revisions to cost estimates made

Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer of BPC, said:
"In March 2020, the Company was within weeks of commencing the drilling of the Perseverance #1 well when compelled to defer operations due to the anticipated impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. As might be expected when such an advanced well plan is halted so close to final implementation, major elements were already in train or sufficiently well established such that reactivation is a relatively straightforward matter. With the clarity of the anticipated delivery date of the Stena IceMAX into the field this work can now be reactivated against a detailed timetable and progressed. I very much look forward to updating shareholders in the coming months as we get closer to drilling."

Background

BPC has an obligation to drill an initial exploration well prior to the conclusion of the current exploration period of its four commercially conjoined licences in the southern territorial waters of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. That period was due to expire on 31 December 2020, but is extendable based upon declaration of force majeure occasioned by the Bahamian and global response to the Covid-19 virus pandemic. An interim force majeure extension of 3.5 months has already been agreed with The Government of The Bahamas, thereby extending the term of the current exploration period to at least mid April 2021 (albeit, given the force majeure event is currently ongoing, BPC expects that the ultimate force majeure extension will be extended so as to be commensurate with the period of the continuing state of emergency in The Bahamas).

At the same time, the Company's long-stated policy has been to avoid undertaking drilling activities during the peak of the Bahamian hurricane season, which traditionally ends in November of each year.

Accordingly, during the period of Covid-19 related shut-downs, BPC sought to reschedule its drilling plans, including all critical supply and service contracts, along with finance arrangements, towards a revised operational objective of drilling Perseverance #1 in the period December 2020 to April 2021.

Rig Nomination

Consistent with this operational objective, BPC, on 24 May 2020, entered into an agreement with Stena DrillMax Ice Limited ("Stena"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stena Drilling Limited, one of the world's foremost independent drilling contractors, for the provision of a sixth-generation drilling rig. The Rig Contract was unconditional, and provided the certainty of a firm time slot for the delivery of a drilling rig on location in the window of 15 December 2020 to 1 February 2021.

KeyFacts Energy: BPC Bahamas country profile