With world-class oil discoveries in Guyana and Suriname already attracting far more than the international community’s peripheral attention, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is beginning to draw even more oil-related attention to itself due to the recent revelation that it could Jamaica’s potential oil reserves are up to ten times the level of previous estimates, according to a recent in-depth study.
The news regarding Jamaica’s significant oil resources stems from the so-called Qualified Persons Report (CPR) technical assessment of potential oil discoveries based on survey data. The latest CPR done on Jamaica’s probable oil resources and released last month, puts the country’s oil reserves at 2.4 billion barrels of oil, about ten times the 240 million barrel level that is said to be held by Trinidad & Tobago, but well below the 9 billion. barrel estimate for Guyana.
The Jamaican Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology seems determined not to proceed with its own move to re-christening the Caribbean island which is renowned for its reputation as a tourist haven, as a petty state. The findings, he said, remain preliminary and cannot be justly compared with the confirmed findings and ongoing oil recovery activities in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. “Qualified Person Reports do not in any way convey a guaranteed result,” the Ministry is quoted in a public statement as saying. Instead, it is a technical assessment of potential oil discoveries based on survey data.
Guyana and Suriname are currently basking in the international coverage of their oil discoveries that have taken place over the past five years, with the level of that coverage being significantly boosted by the fact that the oil giant and US gas company, ExxonMobil, is participating. in the oil recovery commitments in both countries.
Although Jamaica’s recent estimated oil reserves are still being tested, industry reports suggest that if the resources believed to be eventually confirmed were proven oil reserves, the country could then be confirmed as the top 30 in the world’s oil reserves next to the United Kingdom.
What happens next to the extent of strengthening Jamaica’s likely future claim to be a potential player in the global oil and gas industry depends on United Oil and Gas plc, the company with ‘ the right to search for Jamaican offshore oil. The company has reportedly set up Gaffney, Cine and Associates United, a reputable entity in the sector, to carry out an assessment of what it would take to pursue its prospects significant oil sourcing.
The Jamaican Gleaner report says that moving forward, United Oil and Gas will have to partner with capital-intensive heavy-duty drilling as required under its license by the Jamaican government, the partner it hopes find it by 2022, although adding so far, authorities have “not received any additional interest after the CPR report was published.” The Gleaner, however, further cites Jamaican authorities as expressing cautious optimism that “once global conditions adjust to post-pandemic, there will be renewed interest in offshore opportunities, and on land, Jamaica will regain an international focus. ”
United Oil and Gas CEO Jonathan Leather is quoted as saying that the company is “just as excited about the potential of the entire multi-million pound license.”
United Oil and Gas was granted a 100 percent stake in the Walton-Morant license in 2020 by the Jamaican Government covering 22,400 square kilometers, mostly offshore on the island, and requiring the company drill or drop the license by Jan. 31, 2022, Gleaner said.