Company Information for BPC Limited

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Company Statement

BPC was formed to invest in an offshore oil exploration programme in licence areas covering approximately 15,676 sq km (3.874 million acres) in the territorial waters and maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of The Bahamas.

The Group holds 100% interest through wholly owned subsidiaries in five Exploration Licences granted by the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Over sixty years of sporadic exploration has been conducted in The Bahamas. However, there has been very little exploration and drilling activity, with no drilling in the last 20 years, and much of the seismic acquisition activity occurred more than 20 years ago. Five deep petroleum exploration wells have been drilled onshore or in the Bahamian shallow waters between 1947 and 1986. Two wells were drilled in BPC's current licence areas.

Company Objectives:

• Focus on bringing discoveries into production in the shortest possible time.
• Maximise the value of the substantial 100% owned offshore acreage position in The Bahamas.
• Partner with other oil companies to further explore, drill & develop projects in The Bahamas & other areas.
• Build on the knowledge developed from the data collation and assessment of the existing acreage position to identify, evaluate and acquire new licences.
• Utilise the skills of the directorate, executives and consultants to acquire new projects.

Operations and Technology

BPC Limited (BPC) was admitted to London’s AIM on 2nd September 2008 by way of a reverse takeover of Falkland Gold and Minerals Limited (FGML). In January FGML confirmed it had not been able to identify any mineral deposits of economic interest in the Falkland Islands and that it had completed its exploration activities and no further work would be carried out in that location.

The Chairman and CEO of BPC is Alan Burns who is well known to London investors as the founder and Chairman of Hardman Resources Limited. Mr Burns retired as Chairman in July 2006 and Hardman was acquired by Tullow Oil Plc in 2006 for approximately £650m. Dr. Paul Crevello is the COO and is considered a leading expert in carbonate rocks, which is the primary reservoir target in the Bahamas play. 

The BPC Group was formed to invest in an offshore oil exploration programme in its five 100% owned licence areas in the territorial waters and maritime Exclusive Economic Zone of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The Bahamas is one of the most politically stable states in the region, with an uninterrupted democracy for 275 years, and its own government in place since 1973 when independence from the United Kingdom was granted. The Bahamian dollar is currently tied to the US dollar at parity. 

The country is considered commercially viable for gas and oil discoveries. There is a favourable fiscal regime and access to exploration and development infrastructure. There are no corporate income taxes in The Bahamas. Rentals, at the rate of $0.92 per acre per annum are charged for the area of a lease, but these are deductible from Royalty payments. Royalties start at 12.5 per cent for up to 75,000 bopd of oil production rising to 25 per cent in excess of 350,000 bopd. Gas production attracts a royalty of 12.5 per cent. 

The government is now supportive of development and foreign investment. There has been over 60 years of sporadic exploration conducted in the Bahamas. Five wells were drilled from 1947. The last well was drilled by the Tenneco in 1986. Other companies that have been involved in The Bahamas include Amoco and Getty Oil. 

BPC has spent US$ 10 million on expenditure including the acquisition of the five licence areas which cover 15,676 km2 (3.87 million acres). The Northern Area licence, the Miami licence is 20 km south of Grand Bahama and 80km east of the Florida coast. The water depth is 15m to 500m and covers 3,080 km2 (760,973 acres).

The Southern Area Licences are Bain, Cooper, Donaldson and Eneas. The acreage at its closest is about 20 km north of the Cuban coast and 60 km south-east of Andros Island. The water depth is 5m to 600m and they cover an area of 12,596 km2 (3,112,573 acres).

BPC has a 100% holding interest in all licences. The Company believes that 22 leads have been identified as being potentially capable of trapping hydrocarbons and selected for further investigation. The expiry date for all awarded licences is April 26 2012. 

Although a number of leads have been established and the drilled wells showed oil traces, the CPR says with such limited seismic control, they believe it is inappropriate to attempt to quantify prospective resources of geological chances of success for these leads. Nevertheless some of the leads are of substantial areal extent, the largest being 390 km2 (96,000 acres). If these are confirmed by additional seismic, traps capable of holding giant accumulations greater than 500 million stock tank barrels (MMSTB) could be present, subject also to there being adequate charge available. 

The first stages of development, probably early in 2009 will be to find farm in partners.

Board of Directors and Key Management

Major Shareholders

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