The Bahamas

In The Bahamas, BPC holds 100% of five (5) exploration licences covering approximately 16,000km² (4 million acres). Four of the licences are located in the southern territorial waters of The Bahamas, together referred to as the “Southern Licences” (Bain, Cooper, Donaldson, Eneas), and a fifth, the Miami licence, in the northern territorial waters of The Bahamas. The main licences of interest and focus for BPC are the Southern Licences. All licences were awarded for an initial exploration period of three years, with up to three further exploration periods possible. The Southern Licences are commercially co-joined, meaning that the fulfilment of work obligations on any one of the Southern Licences will satisfy the work obligation in respect of all the Southern Licences.

The Southern Licences are currently in their second exploration term (expiring end June 2021), during which BPC was obliged to drill an initial exploration well.

The well, Perseverance #1, was completed in early 2021 notwithstanding considerable challenges – including a year’s delay and significant disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a collapse in oil prices, and a last-minute legal action by environmental activists seeking to halt drilling which was successfully defended by the Company. The well was drilled safely and without an environmental or safety incident, and whilst the well-encountered oil, indicated from LWD (Logging While Drilling) tools, and corroborated by gas chromatography and mud logs, it did not result in a commercial discovery.

The Company is, however, encouraged that the data from the Perseverance #1 well successfully validated the structural model, a competent seal, good reservoir quality, charge, and established a working petroleum system which collectively supports the view that other closures, structures and both shallower stratigraphic and deeper structural plays in the Company’s Bahamian licence areas continue to provide significant commercial prospectivity, and with multiple viable drillable prospects of scale which merit additional study and exploration activity.

Given these technical results, since announcing the results of the well the Company has had a number of discussions with industry counterparties in relation to a potential farm-out of the licences, and the Company has formally launched an entirely new farm-out process via Gneiss Energy. The farm-out is seeking to introduce funding and operating partner for the next stage of exploration activity in The Bahamas.

Concurrent with the farm-out process, the Company will seek to retain its 100% interest in the Southern Licences by extending the licences in to the third exploration period whilst formalising the relinquishment of the Miami licence. The third exploration period for the Southern Licences will last for three years and will require further exploration wells to be drilled before the period expires, failing which the licences would be forfeited (i.e., “drill or drop”). An extension of the licences will attract an annual licence fee and requires a relinquishment of 50% of the licence area. Notification of renewal of the licences has been submitted to the appropriate Ministry, and the area to be relinquished has been identified as being the area equivalent to that over the shallower water depths covered by the Southern Licences (less than circa 200 feet).

Established Petroleum System, Adjacent Producing Analogues

• Four commercially co-joined offshore licenses covering 12,600 km² adjacent to the Cuban border with a further 9,400 km² under application that would secure the on-trend prospective acreage.
• The licences have a 12-year exploration period (4×3 years) with the option for a 30-year production lease on discovery.
• The region is significantly underexplored with only 5 historic wells over an area of 124,000km². All five wells encountered oil shows.
• A large data base of geological information has been acquired and studied to define the prospectivity of the region. This includes 8,000 km of regional 2D, 1,100 km local 2D and 3,000 km². BroadSeis 3D seismic acquired in 2011.
• The extensive dataset and G&G analysis establishes presence of petroleum systems bracketing key source, maturity, migration pathway, reservoir and seal parameters.