US$39 million already spent searching for oil offshore Jamaica

By Lorraine Walker   

 

United Oil and Gas, the United Kingdom based company with a licence to explore for oil offshore Jamaica, has spent just over US$39 million, or more than J$6 billion, over 10 years in its search for the liquid gold.

 

Since last year, there has been widespread speculation about Jamaica's oil and gas exploration activities, with some social media users falsely claiming that the country had started offshore drilling.

 

But responding to questions from Shadow Minister Phillip Paulwell in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, Energy Minister Daryl Vaz said United Oil and Gas is retrieving samples from offshore, for testing, in keeping with a work programme submitted to the government last January.

 

"The work programme includes a concentrated drop core/piston core survey which is now going through the environmental application process at NEPA. For this survey, a specialised vessel is scheduled to retrieve samples from the seafloor to test for the presence of oil and gas in quarters three of 2024, which marks a major milestone for the project," he outlined. 

 

The minister said under its agreement with United Oil and Gas, the government is not required to spend on the exploratory efforts, however, the company will recoup its expenses following the discovery of oil. The agreement expires January 17 next year.

 

Meanwhile, Minister Vaz said United Oil and Gas is looking to identify partners to raise the necessary capital to advance its exploration efforts.

 

The area being explored by the company to the south of the island, covers more than 22,000 square kilometres, with some estimates suggesting that, under ideal conditions, the basin could contain over seven billion barrels of oil, that might be recoverable.