With world-class oil finds in Guyana and Suriname already having attracted much more than the peripheral attention of the international community, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is beginning to draw an even greater measure of oil-related attention to itself on account of the recent revelation that Jamaica’s potential oil reserves could be as much as tenfold the level of previous estimates, according to a recent detailed study.
The news regarding Jamaica’s significant oil resources emanates from what is known as a Competent Persons Report (CPR) a technical assessment of prospective oil finds based on survey data. The most recent CPR done on Jamaica’s likely oil resources and released last month, puts the country’s oil reserves at 2.4 billion barrels of oil, around ten times the 240 million barrel level said to be held by Trinidad & Tobago, but well below the 9 billion barrel estimate for Guyana.
Jamaica’s Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology appears determined not to get ahead of itself in moving to re-christen the Caribbean island renowned for its reputation as a tourism haven, as a petro state. The findings, it says, remain preliminary and cannot be justifiably compared with the confirmed findings and ongoing oil recovery pursuits in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. “Competent Person Reports in no way convey a guaranteed outcome,” the Ministry is quoted in a public statement as saying. Rather, it is a technical assessment of prospective oil finds based on survey data.
Guyana and Suriname are currently basking in the international attention arising out of their oil finds that have occurred over the past five years, the level of that attention being significantly boosted by the fact that the US-based oil & gas giant, ExxonMobil, is involved in the oil recovery undertakings in both countries.
Though the recent estimated oil reserves of Jamaica remain to be proven, industry reports suggest that if the believed resources are eventually confirmed as proven oil reserves, the country could be then confirmed as ranked in the top 30 in world oil reserves beside the United Kingdom.
What happens next insofar as strengthening Jamaica’s likely future claim to being a potential player in the global oil & gas industry depends on United Oil and Gas plc, the company possessing the right to search for oil offshore Jamaica. The company has reportedly identified Gaffney, Cine and Associates United, an entity reportedly with a solid reputation in the sector to undertake an assessment of what it would take to further pursue its significant oil find prospects.
A Jamaica Gleaner report says that, going forward, United Oil and Gas will have to team up with a partner for capital-intensive heavy drilling as required under its licence from the Jamaican government, which partner it hopes to find by 2022, though it adds that up until now, the authorities “have not received any additional interest following the publication of the CPR report.” The Gleaner, however, further quotes the Jamaican authorities as expressing cautious optimism “that once global conditions adjust post pandemic, renewed interest in the opportunities offshore, and onshore, Jamaica will regain international focus.”
United Oil and Gas Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Leather is quoted as saying that the company is “just as excited about seeing the multibillion-barrel potential of the license as a whole.”
United Oil and Gas was granted a 100 per cent stake in the Walton-Morant licence in 2020 by the Jamaican Government which covers 22,400 square kilometres, mostly offshore the island, and requires the company to drill or drop the license by January 31, 2022, the Gleaner says.