Activists must pay $200k in security of costs in BPC case

A Supreme Court judge yesterday ruled that activists seeking a judicial review into the government’s decision to approve exploratory oil drilling in The Bahamas by Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) must pay security of costs in the sum of $200,000 within 30 days. 

“I order that the applicants pay security of costs in the sum of $200,000 for BPC,” Justice Petra Hanna-Adderley ruled.

“Such security to be provided by cash, bond, or a letter of credit from a commercially licensed bank within The Bahamas within 30 days and not the 14 days as requested by BPC.

“The action is stayed pending payment of the said sum.”

Hanna-Adderley further ruled that the applicants, Waterkeeper Bahamas Ltd. and the Coalition to Save Clifton Bay, have leave to appeal the ruling. She noted that they can seek other measures to make the payment.

BPC started drilling its exploratory oil well in December 2020 but said last month that the well, Perseverance #1, located 90 miles west of Andros, failed to produce oil in any commercial quantity.

The company said it will undertake a detailed review of the technical data and results from the drilling of the well. It said it will plug the well and abandon drilling at that site.

The company was targeting oil resources of .77 billion barrels with an upside of 1.44 billion barrels.

The company was hit with legal action in December by the environmental groups, which had been seeking to halt the drilling.

However, Hanna-Adderley refused the application for a stay of the drilling but approved the application for a judicial review.

BPC was joined to the action in January, and applied for security of costs, an application for “money, property or bond given to a court by a plaintiff or appellant to secure the payment of court costs if that party loses”.

BPC holds five exploration licenses covering approximately four million acres. Four of the licenses, referred to as the southern licenses, are located in the southern territorial waters where Perseverance #1 was drilled; and a fifth, the Miami license, is in northern territorial waters.

Attorney General Carl Bethel has said, “They are coming up for renewal, but I can’t speculate on what will happen with that before I talk to my colleagues.”

Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said in December he is “totally against” oil drilling in Bahamian waters, but the government stated it was legally bound to approve the drilling.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/activists-must-pay-200k-in-security-of-costs-in-bpc-case/