rrolle@tribunemedia.net
LAWYERS representing environmental activists, the government and Bahamas Petroleum Company tussled over applications seeking judicial review of BPC’s exploratory oil drilling during a Supreme Court hearing yesterday.
Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes said she will consider their submissions today and return a judgment as soon as possible.
BPC’s drilling of Perseverance #1 began on Sunday, December 20, about 90 miles west of Andros and is expected to be completed within 45 to 60 days.
Yesterday’s hearing considered environmentalists’ application for leave for judicial review, their motion seeking to amend that application to add the Town Planning Committee as a party to the proceedings and their application seeking a stay of drilling activities pending the judicial review.
31 December 2020 | 09:45am
StockMarketWire.com - Oil and gas company Bahamas Petroleum Company said oral arguments were heard in the Supreme Court on 30 December and the company was now awaiting the outcome of a further ruling.
Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes at a prior hearing on 24 December 2020, had refused a motion for Judicial Review from environmental activists into the Government of The Bahamas decision in February 2020 to grant BPC environmental authorisation to proceed with the drilling of the Perseverance #1 well.
The Honourable Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes had not indicated a date for when any further ruling will be provided, the company said.
The drilling of the Perseverance #1 well in The Bahamas would continue, it added.
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
A SUPREME Court hearing on an application for judicial review of Bahamas Petroleum Company’s exploratory oil drilling was adjourned yesterday after lawyer Fred Smith highlighted the lingering effects he experiences following a paragliding accident in Italy last year.
Justice Petra Hanna-Weekes will today hear arguments on whether to implement a stay of drilling, whether to permit applicants to amend their application for leave to initiate judicial review proceedings and, potentially, the substantive application for leave.
“I have suffered some severe injuries in my accident last year and when I don’t get sleep and a lot of stress I am in a lot of distracting pain, so I’m suggesting your honour that in the interest of having a smooth hearing and with all of my colleagues having an opportunity to consider all of the papers and me being in a better position, your honour, to represent my clients so that all of those applications can be heard (today) or
And cost potential $2.4bn jump in their value BPC chief warns of Bahamas reputation hit
By NEIL HARTNELL
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) has warned that its major $100m asset will be extinguished , thereby threatening its survival, if the Supreme Court halts its oil drilling activities.
Simon Potter, its chief executive, revealed in a December 11, 2020, affidavit that it would be impossible for the company to apply for the renewal of its five southern Bahamian licences by the March 31, 2021, deadline unless it is able to complete its Perseverance Once exploratory well within the targeted 45-60 days.
Disclosing that the results will be critical to determining whether BPC seeks to renew these licences, Mr Potter argued that the oil exploration outfit faced potentially extreme economic losses if environmental activists successfully persuade a judge to stay Perseverance One s drilling as part of their Judicial Review challenge to the project