Recently I had written about how I was finding it increasingly difficult to find a silver lining from the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time I wrote how the reaction from the public while shocked did not seem to be as seismic as one would expect from the worst oil spill in US history washing up on the shores of the Gulf Coast and polluting the marine habitat. I guess I hoped that the outcry would be long and loud demanding an end to offshore drilling and an expedited approach to changing an energy policy that relies still far too heavily on oil.

New oil exploration banned in the beautiful waters off The Bahamas

While waiting for public reaction to manifest itself suitably, I was warmly encouraged by the news that the Bahamas’ government stated today that they will not consider any new oil exploration or drilling applications until a ‘very stringent’ environmental framework can be connected. While the population resides at under 350,000 and the entire landmass makes it one of the smaller countries in the world the statement by the Bahamas is still very important. The nation is an archipelago of small islands and cays which together resulted in the island nation having maritime rights and borders that are extremely large (approximately the same area as the eastern coast of Florida), the statement by the government therefore provides some significant environmental security to this region of the Atlantic Ocean. The Environment Ministry of the Bahamas also announced that it plans a thorough investigation of existing licenses to ensure nothing similar to the Deepwater Horizon disaster is possible off of their coastal waters.

British company BPC PLC was created to commence an offshore exploration program to evaluate oil potential over more than 6000 mi.² of ocean surrounding the Bahamas. Their plans are now placed on hold by this decision. The timing may be critical as BPC had just announced some preliminary results showed promising signs for oil recovery to the southwest of the islands. The government reaction may have been partially sparked by this news in conjunction with events in the Gulf as BPC had been applied for exploration rights on a larger tract of ocean. BPC have responded by complaining that exploration and drilling continues in adjacent waters under the jurisdiction of Cuba but that they will honour the suspension of new exploration.

In an industry that can ill afford a repeat of the disaster in the Gulf but a global economy that demands further oil exploration you can’t help but wonder whether a balance can be found that provides safety in the industry where risks are inherent. For the time being however it appears the Bahamas are doing the prudent thing and ideally other countries might follow suit. I certainly hope this story is reviewed in many halls of government around the world.