Bahamas Petroleum plans to plug and abandon its high-profile Perseverance #1 well, 90 miles south of Andros in the island country’s far southern waters, after encountering non-commercial hydrocarbons. The well was drilled to a total depth of 3900 meters using drillship Stena IceMAX. The pre-drill well design allowed for a target depth of 4800 meters across multiple reservoir horizons. The prospect carried a P50 resource estimate of over 750 million bbl, with upside potential approaching 1.5 billion bbl.
According to the company, Perseverance #1 successfully validated the existence of oil, seal and reservoir, verifying a working Lower Cretaceous petroleum system.
“Perseverance #1 is the first exploration well in The Bahamas for decades, and the data gathered from this well will prove invaluable in providing a modern analysis as to the regional potential of the petroleum system, which, in our view, reduces technical risk for any future/further exploration in this new frontier province,” said Simon Potter, CEO of Bahamas Petroleum. “The company will proceed to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the data derived from the well, as we believe the results provide a sound technical basis for renewed farm-in discussions.”
Over the past decade, Bahamas Petroleum as spent more than $110 million to establish provenance of petroleum systems and prepare for a drilling program. The outlay included gathering and processing of thousands of kilometers of seismic data plus extensive environmental studies and site surveys.
The operator plans to shift its activity to planned 2021 drilling programs in Trinidad and Suriname.