x The push by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries to become important players in the global oil and gas industry does not stop at three member countries, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and more recently Suriname. Jamaica too, having long thrown its hat in the ring, continues to take initiatives to make its presence felt in what is already a crowded arena if account is taken of the wider South America. Recent soundings in Jamaica point to the country’s seeming unrelenting persistence to become the fourth oil producer in the Community.
On Friday October 4, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that United Oil is awaiting clearance to begin collecting samples from beneath Jamaica’s seabed, as part of an ongoing exercise to secure additional data that would further strengthen its case for persisting in its efforts to realize an oil strike there. “As we move forward, our primary focus remains on Jamaica, which we believe offers transformative potential for United. The planning and permitting processes for the piston core sampling is advancing, with permits expected in early 2025. We remain engaged with a number of interested parties as we continue to progress the farm-out process,” Brian Larkin of United Oil is quoted in Friday October 4 issue of the Jamaica Gleaner as saying.
While the company continues to demonstrate a preparedness to persevere in its Jamaica offshore oil pursuit Larkin also referred to the company’s efforts to secure a drilling partner to share the investment risk. What the October 4 Gleaner report says is that “the machines utilized for piston core sampling typically descend hundreds of metres into the seabed and penetrate the core up to 18 metres to extract sediments and mud,” a remark that appears to allude to both the complexity of the operation as well as to the costs associated with the exercise. “United is hoping that the samples will deliver data that will raise the chances of an oil discovery offshore Jamaica,” the report adds.
The Gleaner also reports that the odds of a commercial find were last estimated at 25 per cent, but the company expects to raise that to 33 per cent, based on past statements. A major oil find offshore Jamaica will project the global image of the Caribbean, and specifically CARICOM countries altogether differently, the likely most significant result of such a development being a significant ‘upgrading’ of the global image of the Caribbean, given both the enhanced standing as well as the global leverage that could derive from such a development.
As Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago continue their pursuit of plans to, among other things, intensify their efforts to maximize their material gain through the development of their oil and gas reserves and to determine how their combined resources can best serve the interests of the region, as a whole, Jamaica will now likely have to await a United Oil pronouncement before it can make a definitive assessment as to where it stands in the regional oil and gas matrix.
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has also reportedly commented on the issue of oil and gas from a regional perspective reportedly asserting that the region is looking at achieving regional energy security through a mix of renewable energy and hydrocarbons. Jamaica’s sustained efforts to ‘score big’ in what has been its sustained interest in a major oil find has been underlined by dogged persistence, the success of, first Guyana and more recently, Suriname in ‘hitting the mark’ seemingly serving to stiffen the resolve of the regional island state.
