Solid foundation being put in place
A STANDARD draft operating agreement for the offshore petroleum sector has been created.
That’s according to Chairman of Barbados National Oil Company Limited (BNOCL), Dr. Leonard Nurse, who made the disclosure on Monday evening, just moments before Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Freundel Stuart, awarded Black Belly Offshore Block to Spanish company, Repsol S.A. at Ilaro Court.
Nurse’s comments came as he indicated that plans are on stream for the company to also assist in the development of a standard draft environmental impact assessment document to be used by the sector.
“I am pleased to report, Right Honourable Prime Minister, that the BNOCL group has fully embraced its responsibility for the management of Government’s carried interests in the offshore sector. In this regard, it has started to put the necessary legal, technical and commercial resources in place,” he said.
The Chairman’s remarks came as he said he is hopeful that it will not be too long before the company awarded the Black Belly Offshore Block will be able to announce a commercial discovery of petroleum. This development, he said, would allow the BNOCL to offer the wider investing Barbadian public, a share in the equity of the company. With that in mind, he explained that a commercial discovery would also have the real potential to provide employment opportunities for small and medium sized entrepreneurs.
“BNOCL is therefore looking forward to partnering with Repsol Exploration Inc., in the same way that it has partnered successfully with other petroleum entities in its onshore explorations in the past. We at BNOCL welcome this initiative, and therefore look forward to a long, productive and mutually beneficial relationship with Repsol.”
Meanwhile, Executive Vice President of Repsol S.A., Joseba Murillas, told those gathered that over the last 10 years, Repsol has been one of the most successful companies in oil and gas exploration world-wide, not only in terms of discoveries, he said, but the investments and efforts that the company has put into exploration.
“We have a very strong presence in the Caribbean. We currently have exploration operations in Guyana, Trinidad, Aruba, Venezuela and Columbia; we’ve drilled wells even up to the north in Nicaragua. So we have an extensive knowledge of the region, and also a number of people and equipment employed in the area,” he stated.
On that note, he said the company is happy to partner with the BNOCL. He said that the extensive knowledge BNOCL has of the geology of the island, and his company’s international experience, they will work together to the benefit of the country. (JRT)