Two affiliates of Kerr-McGee Corp. have acquired 100% interest in nine oil and gas licenses offshore the Bahamas. The licenses, located in the Blake Plateau basin about 100 miles north of Freeport, Grand Bahamas Island, cover 6.5 million acres in water depths ranging from 650 feet to more than 7,000 feet.

The companies, Kerr-McGee Bahamas Ltd. and Atlantic Exploration and Production Co., intend to shoot 3-D seismic and examine the resource, but so far an exploration timetable has not even been established.

The Blake Plateau basin is located on the southern margin of a large structural terrace that is situated between the shelf margin and Atlantic abyssal plain. These blocks contain multiple play types, including large untested carbonate structures similar to producing fields in North Africa and the Middle East.

“These blocks expand our exploration opportunities along the deepwater Atlantic Margin, where we have licenses offshore Nova Scotia, Brazil, Morocco, Benin and Gabon,” said Kerr-McGee CEO Luke R. Corbett. “With the addition of this acreage, Kerr-McGee holds interests in more than 70 million undeveloped acres worldwide, of which approximately 85% is in deepwater trends. As the largest independent producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and one of the most active exploratory drillers, we have extensive expertise in deepwater exploration and production that we can apply to our program in the Bahamas.”

Kerr-McGee said deep water is the exploration target that offers the best opportunities for increasing shareholder value.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.